Prohibiting mobile forwarding

ABSTRACT

An incoming message and an indication of a sender-specified destination for the incoming message are received. In addition, a determination is made as to whether a mobile telephone number is known by the sender to be associated with the sender-specified destination. If a mobile telephone number is known by the sender to be associated with the sender-specified destination, a first message that is based on the incoming message is sent to the mobile telephone number. Furthermore, a second message is sent to the mobile telephone number that indicates that the first message was sent to the mobile telephone number based on a determination that the mobile telephone number is known by the sender to be associated with the sender-specified destination.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/362,750, filed Nov. 28, 2016; which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/700,100, filed Apr. 29, 2015; which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/662,909, filed May11, 2010 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,049,569, issued Jun. 2, 2015); which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/618,635, filed Dec.29, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,143, issued Jun. 1, 2010). U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/618,635 claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/806,329 filed Jun. 30, 2006, and titled CONDITIONALFORWARDING, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/806,322, filed Jun.30, 2006, and titled PROHIBITING MOBILE FORWARDING, and is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/321,074, filed Dec.30, 2005. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/321,074 claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/724,883, filed Oct. 11, 2005, andtitled MOBILE BLOCKING INDICATORS ON A BUDDY LIST and is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/017,202, filed Dec.21, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,002,949, issued Apr. 7, 2015), and titledAUTOMATICALLY ENABLING THE FORWARDING OF INSTANT MESSAGES. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/017,202 claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/631,876 filed Dec. 1, 2004, and titled AUTOMATICALLYENABLING THE FORWARDING OF INSTANT MESSAGES. All of the aboveapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This description relates to communicating using an instant messagingsystem.

BACKGROUND

Users of an instant messaging service can communicate in virtually realtime with other instant messaging users. Users may manually create abuddy list of user names of other users of the instant messagingservice, and may establish instant messaging sessions with those othermembers using the buddy list.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, an incoming message and an indication of asender-specified destination for the incoming message are received. Inaddition, a determination is made as to whether a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the sender-specifieddestination. If a mobile telephone number is known by the sender to beassociated with the sender-specified destination, a first message thatis based on the incoming message is sent to the mobile telephone number.Furthermore, a second message is sent to the mobile telephone numberthat indicates that the first message was sent to the mobile telephonenumber based on a determination that the mobile telephone number isknown by the sender to be associated with the sender-specifieddestination.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Forexample, the incoming message may be an instant message, thesender-specified destination may be an instant message identity, and thefirst message may be a text message based on the instant message.Additionally or alternatively, the second message may be a text messagethat accompanies the first message, or the first message and the secondmessage may form a single communication.

In some implementations, a determination may be made as to whether thesender-specified destination is available to receive an electronicmessage using a first mode of communication and sending the firstmessage to the mobile telephone number may be based on a determinationthat the sender-specified destination is not available to receive anelectronic message using the first mode of communication. For example,if the instant message identity is not signed on to an instant messageservice when the incoming message is received, a determination may bemade that the sender-specified destination is not available to receivean electronic message using a first mode of communication.

Alternatively, if the instant message identity is signed on to aninstant message service but is associated with an idle state when theincoming message is received, a determination may be made that thesender-specified destination is not available to receive an electronicmessage using a first mode of communication.

In some implementations, a determination whether the mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the sender-specifieddestination may be based on identifying, in an electronic collection ofcontact information associated with the sender, a stored association ofthe mobile telephone number with the sender-specified destination.

In some implementations, a recipient associated with the mobiletelephone number may be able to prohibit sending future messages basedon incoming messages to the mobile telephone number. For example, therecipient may be able to prohibit sending future messages based onincoming messages to the mobile telephone number by sending aninstruction to prohibit sending messages based on incoming messages tothe mobile telephone number. Additionally or alternatively, the secondmessage may enable the recipient to send instructions to prohibitsending future messages based on incoming messages to the mobiletelephone number.

An instruction to prohibit sending future messages based on incomingmessages to the mobile telephone number may be an instruction toprohibit sending future messages based on incoming messages receivedfrom a particular individual, for example, the sender, or an instructionto prohibit sending future messages based on incoming messages to themobile telephone number may be an instruction to prohibit sending allfuture communications based on incoming messages to the mobile telephonenumber. The recipient may be able to send the instruction from a mobiletelephone associated with the mobile telephone number and/or therecipient may be able to send the instruction through an instant messageservice.

An instruction to prohibit sending future messages based on incomingmessages to the mobile telephone number may be received and futuremessages based on incoming messages may be prohibited from being sent tothe mobile telephone number in response.

In some implementations, a determination may be made as to whetherprevious messages based on incoming messages received from the senderhave been sent to the mobile telephone number and the second message maybe sent to the mobile telephone based on a determination that noprevious messages based on incoming messages received from the senderhave been sent to the mobile telephone number. Additionally oralternatively, a determination may be made as to whether previousmessages based on incoming messages have been sent to the mobiletelephone number, and the second message may be sent to the mobiletelephone based on a determination that no previous messages based onincoming messages have been sent to the mobile telephone number.

In another aspect, an incoming message and an indication of asender-specified first destination for the incoming message may bereceived. In addition, a determination is made as to whether a seconddestination is associated with the sender-specified first destinationand a determination is made as to whether the second destination isavailable to receive an electronic message. If it is determined that thesecond destination is associated with the sender-specified firstdestination and it is determined that the second destination isavailable to receive an electronic message, a first message that isbased on the incoming message is sent to the second destination. Inaddition, a second message is sent to the second destination thatindicates that the first message was sent to the second destinationbased on the determination that the second destination is associatedwith the sender-specified first destination and the determination thatthe second destination is available to receive an electronic message.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Forexample, the electronic message may be an instant message, and thesender-specified destination may be an instant message identity. In someimplementations, the second destination may be a mobile telephonenumber, and the first message may be a text message based on the instantmessage. In other implementations, the second destination may be anelectronic mail address, and the second message may be an electronicmail message. Alternatively, in implementations where thesender-specified destination is an instant message identity, the seconddestination may be a different instant message identity availablethrough a different instant messaging service than the instant messagingservice that is associated with the sender-specified first destination.

In some implementations, a determination that the second destination isavailable to receive an electronic message may be based on adetermination that a recipient associated with the mobile telephonenumber has enabled text messages based on instant messages to be sent tothe mobile telephone number.

Implementations of any of the techniques described may include a methodor process, an apparatus or system, or computer software on acomputer-accessible medium.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications system capable offorwarding instant messages based on contact information.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for forwarding an instant messagebased on contact information.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary interface for showing a buddylist that identifies buddies for whom a mobile telephone number is knownto the instant messaging identity associated with the buddy list.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are illustrations of exemplary interfaces for associating,in contact information, a mobile telephone number known to an instantmessage identity with a screen name.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D are illustrations of an exemplary interface forsending communications to a potential instant message recipient for whoma mobile telephone number is known to the instant messaging sender.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary interface for enabling aninstant message identity to prohibit mobile forwarding to the identity'smobile telephone.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process for forwarding an instant messagebased on contact information.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C is a diagram of a process for forwarding an instantmessage to a mobile telephone.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an exemplary interface showing a buddylist that identifies buddies for whom a mobile telephone number is knownto the instant messaging identity associated with the buddy list but forwhom message forwarding is not available.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C is a diagram of a process for updating on-linepresence information in a buddy list window based on a determination ofthe availability of a mobile telephone associated with a potentialmessage recipient to receive a communication.

FIGS. 12A and 12B is a flow chart of a process for using a mobiletelephone to instruct an instant messaging service to prohibitforwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of exemplary transmissions that may be sentfrom a mobile telephone to an instant messaging service to prohibit theforwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a process for updating the on-line presenceinformation for a list of co-users.

FIGS. 15A, 15B, 16A, and 16B are flow charts of processes for sendingmessages to a mobile telephone number.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of a process for forwarding an instant messageonly to people a sender is determined to know.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart of a process for maintaining a list of knownpeople and for using the list to forward instant messages only to knownpeople.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart of a process for inferring contacts of otherusers as known.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a process for conditionally forwarding aninstant message to a mobile telephone number associated with an instantmessaging screen name.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings may indicate likeelements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are described for forwarding an instant message addressed toan intended instant messaging recipient to the recipient's mobiletelephone when the recipient's mobile telephone number is known to theinstant message sender. In one example, an instant message is forwardedto the intended recipient's mobile telephone number when the instantmessage sender's contact information for the intended recipient includesan instant message address (e.g., a screen name or other type of instantmessage identifier) and a mobile telephone number, without dependenceupon the intended recipient's presence on the instant message (IM)system or through actual login or registration with an IM forwardingservice. In a more particular example, an address book of the instantmessage sender includes an entry for the intended recipient where theentry includes an instant message address and a mobile telephone numberof the intended recipient.

More generally, an instant messaging user may maintain a list (a “buddylist”) of user-selected potential instant messaging recipients(“buddies”) to identify another instant messaging user with whom instantmessages are to be exchanged. More specifically, with reference to oneexemplary implementation, a buddy list is a user-definable list of otherco-users (i.e., buddies) of an online or network communications systemsthat enables the user to perceive presence information and changes forthe co-users in a unique graphical user interface (GUI) and to trackchanges to presence status for the co-users in substantially real-timeautomatically, where presence indicates the status of the co-user withrespect to the online or network communications system.

The buddy list also provides the user with a mechanism to initiatecommunications (e.g., instant messages electronic mail (e-mail), chat,and other communications) with the co-users. When a user is signed on toa system, the set of buddies included in the user's buddy list ispresented to the communications system. The communications systemattempts to match co-users currently signed on to the system with theentries on the user's buddy list. Any matches are displayed to the user.As co-users sign on or sign off, a user's buddy list is updated toreflect these changes. An indication also may be added to show that aco-user has recently or is currently in the process of signing on orsigning off the system. In some implementations, a user identity (e.g.,a user account) may have one or more buddy lists of co-users, eitherwith intersecting or disjoint lists of users, and the user may labelthese buddy lists according to the user's preferences or otherwise. Insome implementations, an instant messaging system may be able to forwardcommunications based on instant messages to mobile telephone devicesthrough a cellular system. In such implementations, a user's buddy listmay include co-users that have mobile telephone devices and for whom itis possible to send communications based on instant messages to theirmobile telephone devices.

The buddy list may also include indications that indicate that a messageaddressed to a co-user is not to be delivered to the co-user's mobiletelephone device. The co-user may prohibit the forwarding ofcommunications based on instant messages to his/her mobile telephonedevice or the co-user's mobile telephone device may be powered off, notwithin signal range, or otherwise unable to receive a communication.

In some implementations, a recipient that receives a forwarded instantmessage on his/her mobile telephone may be informed that the recipientreceived the forwarded instant message because the instant messagesender knows the recipient's mobile telephone number and/or because therecipient's mobile telephone number is associated with the recipient'sinstant message identity and the recipient's mobile telephone isavailable to receive a communication. In addition, the recipient may beprovided options for blocking the forwarding of instant messages to therecipient's mobile telephone.

For example, the first time an instant message from a particular instantmessage sender is forwarded as a text message to a recipient's mobiletelephone, an accompanying text message may be sent to the recipient'smobile telephone. The accompanying message may indicate that therecipient has received the forwarded instant message as a text messagebecause the instant message sender knows the recipient's mobiletelephone number. In addition, the accompanying message may provide therecipient with options for blocking the forwarding of instant messagesto the recipient's mobile telephone. The recipient may block theforwarding of all instant messages sent by the particular instantmessage sender. More generally, the recipient may block the forwardingof all instant messages. The recipient may be able to initiate blockingusing the recipient's mobile, telephone or, alternatively, using therecipient's instant message account.

In some implementations, the forwarding of an instant message from asender to a recipient for whom mobile forwarding is enabled may beconditioned upon one or more factors such as, for example, thegeographic location of the recipient; the time of the message; and/orthe strength of the relationship between the sender and the recipient.The strength of the relationship between the sender and the recipientmay be gauged from the sender's perspective or from the recipient'sperspective. In one example, the strength of the relationship betweenthe sender and the recipient may be gauged based on the degree ofseparation (e.g., the number of links) between the sender and therecipient in a social network. When the strength of the relationshipbetween the sender and the recipient is gauged based on the number oflinks between the sender and the recipient in a social network, thenumber of links between the sender and the recipient may be differentdepending on whether the strength of the relationship is gauged from thesender's perspective or from the recipient's perspective. For instance,if the sender has user A listed in the sender's address book, and user Ahas the recipient listed in user A's address book, and the strength ofthe relationship between the sender and the recipient is gauged from thesender's perspective, the sender may be considered to be separated fromthe recipient by two links (or one degree of separation). In contrast,if the recipient does not have either the sender or user A listed in therecipient's address book, but the recipient has user B listed in therecipient's address book, user B has user A listed in user B's addressbook, and user A has the sender listed in user A's address book, therecipient may be considered to be separated from the sender by threelinks (or two degrees of separation), if the strength of therelationship is gauged from the recipient's perspective.

Conditioning the forwarding of instant messages to a recipient's mobiletelephone number on factors in addition to or in place of the sender'sknowledge of the recipient's mobile telephone number may increase theprobability that a forwarded message will be received by the intendedrecipient while simultaneously potentially decreasing the number ofundesired text messages received by the recipient. For example,conditioning the forwarding of an instant message on the geographiclocation of the recipient may increase the likelihood that the recipientis somewhere where the recipient is likely to receive the forwardedmessage. Similarly, conditioning the forwarding of an instant message onthe time of the message increases the likelihood that the recipient isavailable to receive the forwarded message (e.g., the recipient isawake). Conditioning the forwarding of an instant message on thestrength of the relationship between the sender and the recipientincreases the likelihood that the intended recipient desires to receiveforwarded instant messages from the sender.

In one implementation, the instant message system may determine, basedon the above-listed conditions, that instant messages should not beforwarded to the intended recipient's mobile telephone and,consequently, the sender may be prevented from forwarding instantmessages to the intended recipient's mobile telephone. Alternatively, inanother implementation, the instant message system may make an initialdetermination not to forward an instant message to the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone, but the sender may be provided the optionto override the system's decision.

FIG. 1 shows a communications system 100 that is capable of deliveringand exchanging messages between each of client systems 105A and 105B,and which includes an instant messaging provider system 110 and anetwork 115 used to facilitate exchange of such messages. Thecommunications system 100 may be used to send and receive instantmessages, and to forward a communication based on an instant message toa mobile telephone device 170 through a cellular system 180. Users ofthe communications system 100 are distributed geographically andcommunicate using client systems 105A and 105B. The client systems 105Aand 105B are shown as including, respectively, instant messageapplications 107A and 107B. Network 115 interconnects the client systems105A and 105B. The client systems 105A and 105B are connected to network115 through various communication paths 117, such as a modem connectedto a telephone line using, for example, serial line internet protocol(SLIP) or point-to-point protocol (PPP) or a direct network connectionusing, for example, transmission control protocol/internet protocol(TCP/IP). The instant messaging provider system 110 also is connected tothe network 115 over communication pathway 117 and is used to facilitatesome direct or indirect communications between the client systems 105Aand 105B.

Each of the client systems 105A and 105B may be implemented using, forexample, a general-purpose computer capable of responding to andexecuting instructions in a defined manner, a personal computer, aspecial-purpose computer, a workstation, a server, a device, acomponent, or other equipment or some combination thereof capable ofresponding to and executing instructions. The client systems 105A and105B may receive instructions from, for example, a software application,a program, a piece of code, a device, a computer, a computer system, ora combination thereof, which independently or collectively directoperations, as described herein. These instructions may take the form ofone or more communications programs that facilitate communicationsbetween the users of client systems 105A and 105B. For instance, suchcommunications programs may include e-mail programs, instant messageprograms, file transfer protocol (FTP) programs, and voice over internetprotocol (VoIP) programs. The instructions may be embodied permanentlyor temporarily in any type of machine, component, equipment, storagemedium, or propagated signal that is capable of being delivered to theclient systems 105A and 105B.

The client systems 105A and 105B include a communications interface (notshown) used by the communications programs to send communicationsthrough network 115. The communications may include e-mail, audio data,video data, general binary data, or text data (e.g., encoded in AmericanStandard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format). Clientsystems also include one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, amouse, a stylus, or a microphone, as well as one or more output devices,such as a monitor, a touch screen, speakers, or a printer.

The network 115 typically includes a series of portals interconnectedthrough a coherent system. Examples of the network 1020 include theInternet, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), analogor digital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), an Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN), or a Digital Subscriber Line of various types (DSL)), orany other wired or wireless network. The network 115 may includemultiple networks or subnetworks, each of which may include, forexample, a wired or wireless data pathway.

As with the client systems 105A and 105B, the instant message providersystem 110 may be implemented using, for example, a general-purposecomputer capable of responding to and executing instructions in adefined manner, a special-purpose computer, a workstation, a server, adevice, a component, or other equipment or some combination thereofcapable of responding to and executing instructions. The instant messageprovider system 110 may receive instructions from, for example, asoftware application, a program, a piece of code, a device, a computer,a computer system, or a combination thereof, which independently orcollectively direct operations, as described herein. These instructionsmay take the form of one or more communications programs. Suchcommunications programs may include, for example, e-mail programs,instant message programs, FTP programs, and VoIP programs. Theinstructions may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any type ofmachine, component, equipment, storage medium, or propagated signal thatis capable of being delivered to the instant message provider system110.

Further, the instant message provider system 110 includes acommunications interface (not shown) used by the communications programsto send communications through network 115. The communications mayinclude e-mail, audio data, video data, general binary data, or textdata (e.g., encoded in American Standard Code for InformationInterchange (ASCII) format).

The instant message applications 107A and 107B include buddy lists thatinclude communications identities (“buddies”) with which instantmessages are exchanged using the respective client systems 105A and105B. More particularly, the instant message applications 107A and 107Binclude a buddy list for each user that uses the client systems 105A and105B to send and receive instant messages. The instant messageapplications 107A and 107B enable the users to send and receive instantmessages with the client systems 105A and 105B. Instant messages aresent between users of the client systems 105A and 105B through a desktopinstant message server 130 on the instant message provider system 110.

The provider system 110 includes a desktop instant messaging server 130that operates instant messaging server software configured to processcommunications sent from and received by users of an instant messagingservice. In particular, the desktop instant messaging server 130 isconfigured to exchange instant messages and communications related tothe instant message service between the client systems 105A and 105B andthe provider system 110 over the network 115. The desktop instantmessage server 130 initiates a point-to-point recipient, and/or it maybe sent to route instant messages sent with the instant messageapplications 107A and 107B.

The desktop instant messaging server 110 also includes address books 135that are associated with instant messaging user accounts (e.g., a screenname or other type of instant message identity identifier). Moreparticularly, an address book is associated with a particular instantmessage identity (e.g., a sender) and includes contact information 135Afor people that are significant to the instant message identity. Thepeople listed in the contact information may be referred to as contacts.Each contact information entry in the address book may identify a screenname 135B (or other type of instant message address or identityidentifier) and a mobile telephone number 135C for a contact of theinstant message identity to whom the address book applies (e.g.,sender). In some implementations, the address book may includeadditional information, such as a name, mailing address information, andother types of telephone numbers. Some implementations may refer to anaddress book by other terms, such as contact information or userinformation.

The desktop instant messaging server 110 also includes buddy lists 136for instant messaging user accounts. Particular buddy lists may be usedby instant messaging application 107A or 107B that are associated withan instant messaging user using the client system 105A or 105B,respectively.

The desktop instant messaging server 130 also includes code segments 137to enable a user to manage contact information 135A in the user'saddress book, such as by adding information for a new contact, deletinga contact, or editing information related to a contact. The codesegments 137 enable a user to identify a mobile telephone and an instantmessaging identity identifier or account (e.g., screen name) for acontact.

An offline mobile proxy 140 represents the online presence and/oravailability of a user of the instant messaging system when the user isoffline, thus enabling communications to offline users via alternativecommunication schemes (e.g., text messaging to a text-capabletelephone), even if an instant messaging service is configured torestrict messaging to users who reflect online presence. The offlinemobile proxy 140 represents to the desktop instant messaging server 130that a user is capable of receiving an instant message when a user isactually offline. Accordingly, when a user is offline, availability ofthe user to communicate may be perceived by others and messages sent tothem may be received using an alternative communications scheme (e.g.,text messaging to a text-capable telephone). For instance, a user who isnot signed on to the instant message service (i.e., an offline user) andwhose mobile telephone number is included in a potential sender'saddress book may be perceived as available to receive messages by thepotential sender—that is, the user who is offline remains listed asavailable for messaging on the buddy lists of users who subscribe to theuser's online presence and have contact information for the user thatincludes the user's mobile telephone number and screen name. Moreover,an instant message intended for such an offline user is received by thedesktop instant messaging server 130 and provided to the wireless server145, which communicates a text message based on the original instantmessage to the mobile telephone device 170 associated with the offlineuser. The text message is communicated from the wireless server 145 tothe mobile telephone device 170 thorough the cellular system 180. Thecommunication of an instant message addressed to an instant messagescreen name to a mobile telephone as a text message may be referred toas sender-initiated mobile forwarding. Such sender-initiated mobileforwarding may be distinguished from recipient-initiated mobileforwarding in which a recipient configures, or otherwise enables, therecipient's own instant messaging account to forward an instant messageas a text message to the recipient's mobile telephone. Sender-initiatedmobile forwarding also may be referred to as sender-inspired mobileforwarding. Recipient-initiated mobile forwarding also may be referredto as recipient-inspired mobile forwarding.

The offline mobile proxy 140 includes code segments 140A to manageonline presence information. When the desktop instant messaging server130 detects that a user has signed off the instant messaging service,the desktop instant messaging server 130 communicates the status of theuser (e.g., offline) to the offline mobile proxy 140, which executescode segment 140A to indicate to the desktop instant messaging server130 that the user is online. This enables a user to be perceived by thedesktop instant messaging server 130 as online when the user is offline(e.g., not signed in to the instant messaging service). In oneimplementation, the offline mobile proxy 140 also executes code segment140A to update, or enable the update of, the screen name associated witha user to show a mobile indicator adjacent to the user's screen name oneach of the buddy lists that include the user's screen name. The mobileindicator indicates that the user is available at their mobile device toreceive messages inspired through manipulation of the buddy list in theordinary manner, indicates that the user is not signed on to the desktopinstant messaging service, and also indicates that the user has invokedrecipient-initiated mobile forwarding, as described more fully in FIG.3.

The offline mobile proxy 140 also includes code segments 140B that maybe executed by the offline mobile proxy 140 to determine whether toforward an instant message addressed to an offline intended recipient tothe mobile telephone device 170 associated with the intended recipientof the original instant message. In one example, the offline mobileproxy 140 executing the code segments 140B may determine to forward aninstant message when a sender of the instant message knows the potentialrecipient's mobile telephone number (i.e., the offline mobile proxy 140directly, or thorough the desktop instant messaging server 130,determines there is an entry in address books 135 for contactinformation 135A that includes a mobile telephone number associated withthe potential recipient's screen name. This may be referred to asdetermining whether to forward an instant message based on contactinformation. In another example, the offline mobile proxy 140 maydetermine to forward the instant message based on contact informationand other factors. For example, the offline mobile proxy 140 maydetermine whether to forward an instant message to a mobile telephonenumber based on a user state (e.g., only when a user is offline), basedon a sender request (e.g., confirmation that the sender wants to send amessage to the mobile telephone), or unconditionally (e.g., mirror allinstant messages to the mobile telephone even when the user is signed onto the instant message service). Accordingly, the offline mobile proxy140 executing the code segments 140B may determine to forward theinstant message only when the user is offline or it instead maydetermine to forward the instant message only when the sender hasindicated that the instant message should be forwarded. In yet anotherexample, the offline mobile proxy 140 executing the code segments 140Bmay determine to forward the instant message when the sender has amobile telephone number for the potential recipient and the potentialrecipient has not prohibited forwarding of instant messages to thepotential recipient's mobile telephone. In any event, when the offlinemobile proxy 140 determines that an instant message is to be forwardedto a mobile device, the offline mobile proxy 140 provides the instantmessage to the wireless server 145.

The wireless server 145 includes code segments 145A configured toprepare, based on an original instant message, a text message that isbased on the short message service (SMS) protocol, which is particularlyuseful in sending and receiving short text messages to mobile devices,such as mobile telephones. The code segments 145A include addressingoperations. In one example, the wireless server 145 executing codesegments 145A may use contact information 135A in address books 135 toidentify the mobile telephone number of the recipient identified in theinstant message. To do so, the wireless server 145 executing codesegments 145A may identify a contact entry in the address book of thesender of the instant message where the contact entry includes thescreen name to whom the instant message is addressed and a mobiletelephone number. The addressing operations also may include addressingthe text message to the identified mobile telephone number. Theaddressing operations also may include converting the instant message toa different character set that is used by the text message. For example,an instant message may use an ASCII character set or a Unicode characterset, whereas the text message may use a GSM (“Global System for MobileCommunications”) character set. In such a case, the wireless server 145executing code segments 145A also converts the instant message from theASCII or Unicode character set to the GSM character set.

In addition, the wireless server 145 also includes code segments 145Bconfigured to forward a text message to a telephone number. Moreparticularly, the wireless server 145 executing code segments 145Bforwards to the cellular system 180 a text message prepared by executingcode segments 145A. This may be referred to as mobile forwarding. Ifmobile forwarding is inspired by the sender's contact information forthe intended recipient, the mobile forwarding may be referred to assender-initiated mobile forwarding. Similarly, if mobile forwarding isperformed based on action by the recipient, then the mobile forwardingmay be referred to as recipient-initiated mobile forwarding.

The mobile telephone device 170 is associated with a mobile telephonenumber to which telephone calls may be routed over the cellular system180. The mobile telephone device 170 also may be associated with a SMSaddress that typically is the same as the mobile telephone numberassociated with the mobile telephone device 170, though this need notnecessarily be so. The mobile telephone device 170 is capable ofreceiving, displaying, processing, and sending text messages over thecellular system 180. The mobile telephone device 170 also may bereferred to as a text-capable telephone.

The cellular system 180 may include a cellular network that is capableof transmitting and receiving digital or analog signals using cellulartechnologies, including Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMPS),Narrowband Advanced Mobile Telephone Service (NAMPS), Frequency ShiftKeying (FSK), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), or anystandard, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) orCellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD). Alternatively, the cellular system180 may be any type of telephone network capable of transmitting textmessages to any type of telephone or mobile device.

In general, the communications system 100 may be used to send an instantmessage sent from a client system 105A or 105B to the instant messageprovider system 110, which transforms the instant message to acorresponding text message that is routed over the cellular system 180to the mobile telephone device 170. The original instant message isaddressed to a screen name and forwarded to the mobile telephone device170 based on the sender's contact information for the intendedrecipient—that is, based on an association, in the sender's contactinformation 135A of address books 135, of the screen name and the mobiletelephone number of the intended recipient, and detection of offlinestatus of the screen name identity (i.e., the user of the mobiletelephone device 170).

In some implementations, forwarding an instant message to a mobiletelephone may be prohibited by the user of the mobile telephone, evenwhen the sender of the instant message knows the mobile telephone numberof the intended recipient of the instant message (e.g., contactinformation in the sender's address book includes a mobile telephonenumber associated with the screen name of the intended recipient).Additionally or alternatively, forwarding of an instant message to amobile telephone may be performed only after confirmation is receivedfrom the sender of the instant message.

In some implementations, the client system 105A or 105B may be capableof performing some or all of the operations described as being performedby the instant message provider system 110.

Sender-initiated mobile forwarding may reduce the burden on sender's ofinstant messages to alleviate, or minimize, effort of monitoringrecipient availability to receive an instant message. It may be possibleto monitor recipient availability to receive, on the recipient's mobiletelephone, a communication based on an instant message. For example, insome implementations, sender-initiated mobile forwarding may only occurwhen the intended recipient's mobile telephone is activated, withinsignal range, and able to receive a text message, though this need notnecessarily be so. Text messaging to a mobile telephone may beimplemented using store-and-forward techniques such that a text messagethat is sent to a deactivated (e.g., turned off) mobile telephone isdelivered to the mobile telephone when the mobile telephone is activated(e.g., turned on) or becomes within receiving range of a mobile signal.In such a case, the recipient having a mobile telephone may beidentified as always being available to receive a text message.

In some implementations, a buddy list of potential instant messagingrecipients may reflect whether one or more potential instant messagingrecipients are available to receive a message forwarded to the potentialrecipient's mobile telephone. For example, when a potential recipient'smobile telephone is turned off, not within signal range, or is otherwiseunable to receive a text message, the buddy list including the instantmessaging recipient may reflect the potential recipient's unavailabilityto receive a message forwarded to the potential recipient's mobiletelephone. A buddy list that indicates whether a potential recipient isavailable to receive a message forwarded to the potential recipient'smobile telephone may be applicable to sender-initiated mobile forwardingand may be applicable to recipient-controlled mobile forwarding.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process 200 for forwarding an instant message,based on contact information for an intended recipient, to a mobiletelephone device capable of receiving, processing, displaying andtransmitting text messages. The process 200 may be performed, forexample, by a processor on the provider system 110 of FIG. 1 or may beperformed by an instant messaging application, such as instant messagingapplication 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, the processorperforming the process 200 may be referred to as an instant messagingsystem.

The process 200 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (step 210). The user, who may be referred to as asender, may do so using an instant messaging application to identify abuddy from within their buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be a identified by the user by entering a screen name(rather than selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether an identity associatedwith the screen name is available to receive an instant message (step220). This may be accomplished, for example, by the instant messagingsystem checking whether the identity associated with the screen name issigned on to the instant message system. When the identity associatedwith the screen name is available to receive an instant message (step222), the instant messaging system sends the instant message to theidentity associated with the screen name (step 225). For example, theinstant message system may forward the instant message to the clientsystem, such as 105A or 105B of FIG. 1, used by the identity.

When the identity associated with the screen name is not available toreceive an instant message (step 222), the instant messaging systemdetermines whether a mobile telephone number is known by the sender tobe associated with the identity associated with the screen name. In oneexample, the instant messaging system identifies a collection of contactinformation (i.e., an address book, a contact list, or a buddy list)that is associated with the sender of the instant message and searchesthe identified collection for an entry that includes a screen name thatmatches the screen name to which the instant message is addressed. Ifsuch a match is found, the instant messaging system determines whether amobile telephone number is included in the contact information entry,and, when so, the instant messaging system determines that a mobiletelephone number is known to the sender to be associated with theidentity associated with the screen name to which the instant message isaddressed.

When the instant message system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is not known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is not included in the sender's address book or contactinformation for the identity is included in the sender's address bookand the contact information does not include a mobile telephone number)(step 232), the instant message system does not send the instant messageto the intended recipient and does not send a communication based on theinstant message (e.g., does not forward a text message to a mobiletelephone number) (step 235).

When the instant message system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is included in the sender's address book, where the contactinformation includes a mobile telephone number and identifies a screenname) (step 232), the instant message system sends a communication basedon the instant message to the mobile telephone number known to thesender to be associated with the identity (step 240). This may beaccomplished, for example, by preparing and forwarding a text messagebased on the instant message to the mobile telephone number for theidentity, directly or indirectly, thorough a cellular system, asdescribed previously with respect to FIG. 1.

In some implementations, the determination as to whether an identity isavailable may include, when the identity is signed on to the instantmessage system, making a determination that the identity is availableonly when the identity is not idle (e.g., the identity has notinteracted with the client system running the instant messageapplication program in a predetermined or user-configurable amount oftime). In such a case, a communication based on the instant message maybe sent to a mobile telephone number known to the sender to beassociated with the identity when the identity is not signed on and/oris idle. Alternatively or additionally, an instant message account orinstant message application may be configured to identify conditionswhen sender-initiated mobile forwarding occurs—such as, only when arecipient is not signed on to the instant message application, or when arecipient is not signed on to the instant message application or isidle.

Referring to FIG. 3, a graphical user interface 300 displays a buddylist for an instant messaging identity (e.g., an instant message sender)where the buddy list identifies buddies for whom a mobile telephonenumber is known to the instant messaging identity (e.g., the instantmessage sender).

The graphical user interface 300 includes an instant messagesender-selected list 310 of potential instant messaging recipients 320a-320 g. The graphical user interface 300 may be referred to as aninstant message buddy list window 300, an instant message buddy listinterface 300, or, more simply, a buddy list window 300 or a buddy listinterface 300, and the list 310 may be referred to as a buddy list 310.In some implementations, the buddy list also may be referred to as aparticipant list, a contact list or a friends list. Thus, buddiestypically are contacts who are known to the potential instant messagesender (here, IMSender). A buddy is identified by a screen name or othertype of identity identifier, such as an account name, a user name, auser identity, or an alias of an identity identifier. In particular, theuser IMSender is an instant message sender using the buddy listinterface 300. The buddy list interface 300 is rendered on the displayof a computing device or a communication device on which an instantmessaging client program is executed, such as the client system 105A or1058 of FIG. 1.

In the buddy list 310, the representations 320 a-320 g include textidentifying the screen names of the buddies included in buddy list 310;however, additional or alternative information may be used to represent,and be associated with, one or more of the buddies, such as an avatar orother type of graphical image, that is reduced in size and either stillor animated. In one example, a buddy icon is a small, two-dimensionalgraphical image that may be used for self-expression by the associatedbuddy (e.g., used to express an interest of the buddy), and which may bea still or animated image or graphic. For example, the representation320 a includes the screen name 321 a and corresponding buddy icon 322 aof the instant message recipient named SuperBuddyFan1. The buddy icontypically is selected by the party identified by the screen name, but itmay be selected instead by the buddy list owner. For convenience, eachof the representations 320 a-320 g may be referred to as a screen name320 a-320 g. In some implementations, one or more of the representations320 a-320 g may be an alias of a screen name rather than a screen nameitself. The representations 320 a-320 g may provide connectivityinformation to the instant message sender about the buddy, such aswhether the buddy is online, how long the buddy has been online, whetherthe buddy is away from the client system executing the instant messagingclient application, or whether the buddy is available through a mobiledevice.

Buddies may be grouped by an instant message sender into one or moreuser-defined or pre-selected groupings (“groups”). As shown, the instantmessage buddy list window 300 has three groups, Buddies 322, Co-Workers324, and Family 326. SuperBuddyFan1 320 a belongs to the Buddies group322, and ChattingChuck 320 c belongs to the Co-Workers group 324. When abuddy's instant message client program is able to receivecommunications, the representation of the buddy in the buddy list isdisplayed under the name or representation of the buddy group to whichthe buddy belongs. As shown, at least potential instant messagingrecipients 320 a-320 g are online. In contrast, when a buddy's instantmessage client program is not able to receive communications, therepresentation of the buddy in the buddy list may not be displayed underthe group with which it is associated, but it may instead be displayedwith representations of buddies from other groups under the headingOffline 328, or it may otherwise be visually distinguished from otherbuddies who then have available/present instant message client programs.All buddies included in the buddy list 310 that are displayed in themessaging mode are displayed either under one of the groups 322, 324, or326, or under the heading Offline 328.

The buddy list 310 also includes a mobile indicator 310A that reflectsthe existence of a mobile telephone number for the identity is known tothe user (i.e., IMSender) and, as such, is a means for contacting theidentity associated with the screen name 320 b (i.e., Boss) adjacent tothe mobile indicator 310A. Thus, the mobile indicator 310A may indicatethat a message addressed to the screen name 320 b is to be forwarded toa mobile telephone number associated with the screen name 320 b based onan association of a mobile telephone number with the screen name 320 bin the user's (i.e., IMSender) contact information. The mobile indicator310A also may be referred to as a sender-initiated forwarding indicator.Generally, the mobile indicator 310A is displayed only when the identityassociated with the screen name 320 b is not available to receive aninstant message (e.g., is offline and/or is idle), though this need notnecessarily be so. In some implementations, the mobile indicator 310Amay indicate only that a mobile telephone number is associated with thescreen name and not provide an indication as to whether an instantmessage sent to the corresponding screen name is to be forwarded to themobile telephone number.

The buddy list 310 also includes a mobile indicator 310B that reflectsthat the identity associated with the screen name 320 e (i.e., Mom)adjacent to the mobile indicator 310B has enabled recipient-initiatedmobile forwarding of instant messages to the identity's mobiletelephone. In contrast to the sender-initiated forwarding indicator310A, the mobile telephone number of the identity need not necessarilybe known to the user (i.e., IMSender). Mobile indicator 310B may bereferred to as a recipient-initiated forwarding indicator. Generally,the mobile indicator 310B is displayed only when the identity associatedwith the screen name 320 e is not available to receive an instantmessage (e.g., is offline and/or is idle), though this need notnecessarily be so. Although the recipient-initiated forwarding indicator310B is shown with a different presentation style from the presentationstyle of the sender-initiated forwarding indicator 310A, someimplementations may use the same presentation style for both types ofmobile indicators.

A mobile blocking indicator 310C on the buddy list 310 reflects that theidentity associated with the screen name 320 g (i.e., Brother) prohibitsforwarding of instant messages to the identity's mobile telephone, eventhough the mobile telephone number associated with the identity may beknown to the user. Generally, though not necessarily, the mobileblocking indicator 310C is displayed only when the identity associatedwith the screen name 320 g is not available to receive an instantmessage (e.g., is offline and/or is idle). Alternatively, in contrast todisplaying a mobile indicator 310C, some implementations may simply usethe presence of a user's screen name to indicate their availability (bymobile forwarding or otherwise) to receive messages, and the absence ofmobile indicators 310A and 310B to indicate an otherwise potentialrecipient's lack of availability due to either of an absence of theirmobile forwarding information/registration or their expressed reluctanceto receive messages at their mobile device. For example, someimplementations may not display a mobile indicator 310A adjacent to ascreen name when the sender has the mobile telephone number for theidentity, the identity is offline, and the identity prohibits mobileforwarding. In such a case, for example, the screen name of the user maysimply appear under the Offline group 328, even though the sender hastheir mobile forwarding information.

The mobile blocking indicator 310C may be particularly useful whenapplied to the Offline group 328. In such a case, the mobile blockingindicator 310C would inform the sender of the identities who areavailable to receive instant messages sent as text messages to theidentities' mobile telephones. For example, when a potential recipient'smobile telephone is turned off, not within signal range, or is otherwiseunable to receive a text message, the buddy list may include a mobileblocking indicator 310C to reflect the potential recipient'sunavailability to receive a message forwarded to the potentialrecipient's mobile telephone.

A determination to display the mobile blocking indicator 310C may bemade when a determination is made that the identity associated with thescreen name 320 g (i.e., Brother) is offline and/or is idle. Forexample, when the identity signs off of the host system providing theinstant messaging service, the host system may determine whether theidentity prohibits forwarding of instant messages to the identity'smobile telephone. To do so, for example, the host system may checkconfiguration information associated with the screen name 320 g and makea determination based on the configuration information. When the hostsystem determines that forwarding of instant messages is prohibited bythe identity, the host system may make that determination available tothe client system or may make available an updated buddy list thatincludes the mobile blocking indicator 310C. This may be accomplished,for example, by sending the updated buddy list, sending a message thatindicates the identity associated with the screen name prohibitsforwarding of instant messages, or otherwise pushing the buddy list ordetermination to the client system that displays the buddy list 310. Inanother example, the host system enables the client system to access theupdated buddy list with the mobile blocking indicator 310C; thedetermination that a mobile blocking indicator 310C is appropriate, orotherwise enabling the client system to pull the updated buddy list ordetermination that a mobile blocking indicator 310C is appropriate fromthe host system. The buddy list window 300 also includes controls 330that a user may use to initiate functions related to instant messaging.In particular, a setup control 332 allows for configuration of thecurrently displayed buddy list. Selecting the setup control 332 enablesfunctionality including the addition and deletion of screen names, suchas screen names 320 a and 320 b, and groups, such as groups 322 and 324,to the buddy list 310.

When an online screen name from the buddy list 310 has been selected,activating an instant messaging control 334 displays an interface forcommunicating with the account corresponding to the selected screenname. Activating the instant messaging control 334 without selecting anonline screen name in the buddy list 310 causes the display of aninterface for communicating and allows a user to identify an instantmessaging user that is not on the user's buddy list.

An info control 336 displays contact information related to a screenname selected on the buddy list 310 when contact information isavailable about the buddy. Such information may include, for example, amobile telephone number, a work telephone number, and a home telephonenumber. In some implementations, information other than contactinformation may be displayed, such as, for example, name, geographiclocation, interests and hobbies, and occupation of the buddy. Thecontact information may be entered by the identity (i.e., buddy) and,optionally, the identity may control whether some or all suchinformation is displayed to other users. Additionally or alternatively,the contact information for the buddy may be entered by the user (i.e.,IMSender). The contact information may be displayed, for example, in auser interface 400 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an interface 400 for associating, incontact information, a mobile telephone number with a screen name. Theinterface 400 may be displayed, for example, in response to a useractivating a control to associate telephone numbers with an instantmessage identity identified on the user's buddy list.

The interface 400 identifies the screen name 410 of an identity (i.e.,“Steve Clark”) with whom telephone numbers 420 are to be associated. Theinterface 400 enables a user to enter a mobile telephone number 425 tobe associated with the screen name 410, which seryes to inform theinstant messaging service that the mobile telephone number associatedwith the screen name 410 is known to the user.

The interface 400 also includes controls. A control 432 is operable toassociate the entered mobile telephone number 425 with the identifiedscreen name 410 and remove the interface 400 from display on a computingdevice or communication device operating the instant messagingapplication. In contrast, a control 434 is operable to remove theinterface 400 from display without associating the entered mobiletelephone number 425 with the identified screen name 410.

In some implementations, an instant messaging user may enter the user'sown mobile telephone number in the interface 400 and, in doing so, makeknown the user's own mobile telephone number to other instant messagingusers. Thus, in doing so, the user enables instant messages sent to theuser from other instant messaging users to be forwarded to the user'smobile telephone number when the user is offline. This may be aconvenient method for a user to enable mobile forwarding to the user'smobile telephone.

This or a similar interface may be used to display a mobile telephonenumber that is associated with a screen name and, hence, known to theuser displaying the interface. For example, with reference to FIG. 3,when a screen name is selected on the buddy list 310, activation of thecontrol 336 may cause the display of an interface the same as or similarto interface 400.

FIG. 5 depicts another example of an interface 500 for associating, incontact information, a mobile telephone number with a screen name, whichserves to inform the instant messaging service that the mobile telephonenumber associated with the screen name is known to the particular userassociated with the address book.

In contrast to the interface 400 of FIG. 4, the interface 500 presentsan address card in an address book of an instant messaging user. Moreparticularly, the interface 500 includes address card information 505for a contact in an address book associated with the screen name of aparticular instant messaging sender (i.e., IMSender) and title bar 507.The address card information 505 includes a screen name 510 and a mobiletelephone number 525 of the contact who is the subject of the addresscard. Thus, when a user enters and stores a screen name 510 and mobiletelephone number 525 for the contact in the address card information505, the instant messaging service is informed that the mobile telephonenumber 525 of the contact is known to the instant message sender (i.e.,IMSender) with whom the address book is associated For example, withreference to FIG. 2, the existence of a mobile telephone number in asender's general contact list may be used, at step 230, as the basis fordetermining whether a mobile telephone number is known by the sender tobe associated with an identity associated with a screen name. Such adetermination may be made even in the absence of a screen name in thecontact list of the sender if the mobile telephone number of othergeneral contact lists is associated with some other indicia also linkedto the recipient screen name in the buddy list or otherwise (e.g.,name).

As illustrated, the address card information 505 also includes othertypes of information, such as the name of the contact 530, a category532 of contacts with whom the contact is associated (i.e., a Friendscategory), and an e-mail account identifier 535 of e-mail accounts otherthan an e-mail account associated with the screen name 510.

The interface 500 also includes a control 542 to save address cardinformation in electronic storage, such as address books 135 of FIG. 1and remove the interface 500 from display, and a control 544 to removethe interface 500 from display without saving newly entered address cardinformation.

In some implementations, the interface 500 also may include a control550 operable to expressly prohibit sender-initiated mobile forwarding tothe cellular phone number 525 associated with the screen name 510 (e.g.,prohibit forwarding an instant message sent to the screen name 510 tothe cellular phone number 525 when the identity associated with thescreen name is not signed on to the instant messaging service) and anindicator 552 representing whether sender-initiated mobile forwarding tothe cellular phone number 525 is prohibited. The ability for a user tocontrol whether sender-initiated mobile forwarding is prohibited for aparticular contact in the user's address book may be useful. Forexample, a user may store in the user's address book a cellular phonenumber for a contact for whom the user would not want to forward aninstant message when the contact is offline. In one example, a user maywish to store a cellular phone number 525 for a contact where thecontact owns a cellular phone corresponding to cellular phone number foremergency use only and customarily does not power on the cellular phone.In such a case, the user may wish to prohibit sender-initiated mobileforwarding to the cellular phone. In some implementations, the control550 may be operable to expressly prohibit both sender-initiated andrecipient-initiated mobile forwarding (if the contact has configured thecontact's instant message user account to enable recipient-initiatedmobile forwarding).

In some implementations, other sender-configuration options may beprovided. For example, a user may be able to select whethersender-initiated mobile forwarding based on contact information isenabled (or prohibited) for all contacts or contacts belonging to one ormore contact categories. Similarly, a user may be able to select whethersender-initiated mobile forwarding based on contact information isenabled (or prohibited) as a default option for all contacts, orcontacts belonging to one or more contact categories, unless overriddenby user instruction. One example of such a user instruction is thecontrol 550 operable to prohibit sender-initiated mobile forwarding tothe mobile telephone number of the identified contact. Another exampleis the response of a user to a prompt inquiring whether the user wantsto forward a particular instant message to a recipient, as describedmore fully later with respect to FIG. 6B.

Additionally or alternatively, recipient-configuration options may beprovided for enabling a recipient to control whether an instant messageis forwarded to the recipient's mobile telephone. For example, a usermay configure the user's instant messaging account such that instantmessages are not forwarded to the user's mobile telephone even when asender has the user's mobile telephone number in the sender's contactinformation. More particularly, a user who is an intended recipient ofan instant message may prohibit sender-initiated mobile forwarding fromany sender, a particular sender and/or a sender that is associated withone of one or more buddy groups on the recipient's buddy list.

FIG. 6A shows an exemplary interface 600A for sending messages to apotential instant message recipient for whom a mobile telephone numberis known to the instant messaging sender. More particularly, theinterface 600A includes a recipient indicator 602 that indicates ascreen name of a potential recipient of the messages sent with theinterface 600A. The screen name of the potential recipient may beidentified by selecting a screen name from a buddy list, such as buddylist 310 of FIG. 3, or may be entered by the user directly into therecipient indicator 602. As illustrated, the interface 600A is used tosend communications to the screen name NewBuddy 602. In someimplementations, the interface 600A also may include a sender indicator(not shown) that indicates a sender of the messages sent with theinterface 600A.

The interface 600A includes a message compose text box 606 that enablestext to be entered for a message and displays the text of a message tobe sent from the sender and to the identified recipient 602. Oncespecified in the message compose text box 606, the message may be sentby selecting a send button 610. In some implementations, the interface600A may include a message transcript text box (not shown) that displaysthe text of messages sent between the sender and the recipient.

The interface 600A includes an available control 620 operable to displaya user interface indicating whether the potential recipient is availableto receive an instant message and, if not, to prompt the user toindicate whether the instant message is to be forwarded to the mobiletelephone number associated with the screen name (when a mobiletelephone number is available for the screen name), such as userinterface 600B of FIG. 6B.

FIG. 6B shows a user interface 600B that may be presented to inform aninstant message sender that the intended recipient of the instantmessage is not available to receive the instant message (e.g., theintended recipient is offline) and request confirmation from the instantmessage sender as to whether the instant message should be forwarded toa mobile telephone number associated with the intended recipient andknown to the instant message sender.

More particularly, the interface 600B displays availability information625 for the intended recipient. As illustrated, the availabilityinformation 625 indicates that the intended recipient is offline.Another example of availability information 625 is information that theintended recipient is idle (e.g., has not interacted with the clientsystem running the instant message application program in apredetermined or user-configurable amount of time). Yet another exampleof availability information 625 is information that the intendedrecipient is away from the client system running the instant messageapplication program (e.g., that the intended recipient has set an awayindicator to be displayed when an instant message is sent to theintended recipient). Availability information 625 also may providenotification that the intended recipient is offline and has enabledrecipient-initiated mobile forwarding where a text message based on theinstant message is to be sent to a mobile telephone number identified bythe intended recipient.

The interface 600B also includes a prompt 630 for the user to indicatewhether the instant message sender wishes to forward the instant messageto the intended recipient's mobile telephone number. The prompt 630 maybe displayed based on the association, in the instant message sender'scollection of contact information (e.g., address book), of a mobiletelephone number with the screen name of the intended recipient. In someimplementations, the prompt 630 also may be displayed when the intendedrecipient is offline and has enabled recipient-initiated mobileforwarding to receive a text message on the intended recipient's mobiletelephone number.

A control 635 is operable to enable mobile forwarding of a text messageto a mobile telephone number associated with the intended recipient andremove the interface 600B from display. In contrast, a control 637 isoperable to remove the interface 600B without sending to a mobiletelephone number associated with the intended recipient a text messagebased on the instant message.

FIG. 6C shows another exemplary user interface 600C that may bepresented to inform an instant message sender that the intendedrecipient of the instant message is not available to receive the instantmessage (e.g., the intended recipient is offline) and requestconfirmation from the instant message sender as to whether the instantmessage should be forwarded to a mobile telephone number associated withthe intended recipient and known to the instant message sender. Incontrast to FIG. 6B, the user interface 600C provides communicationscheme options other than sender-initiated mobile forwarding tocommunicate with the intended recipient.

More particularly, the interface 600C includes a text box 650 informingthe sender that the instant message is to be sent to the mobile deviceregistered to the intended recipient and identifying the mobiletelephone number to which the message is to be sent. The interface 600Calso includes controls 662, 664, 666, 668 and 669 to identify thedesired disposition of the message. In particular, the control 662 isoperable to send the message content identified in the instant messagevia instant message only—that is, forward a text message to the mobiletelephone number of the intended recipient and remove the interface 600Cfrom the display.

The control 664 is operable to send the message content identified inthe instant message as an electronic mail (e-mail) message directed toan e-mail address associated with the intended recipient in the sender'scontact information for the recipient, such as other e-mail address 535of FIG. 5, and remove the interface 600C from the display.

Similarly, the control 666 is operable to send the message content bothas a text message forwarded to a mobile telephone number of therecipient and as an e-mail message directed to the intended recipient,as well as to remove the interface 600C from the display.

The control 668 is operable to initiate a telephone call (e.g., avoice-based telephone call) to the mobile telephone number of theintended recipient and remove the interface 600C from the display.

The control 669 is operable to remove the interface 600C from thedisplay without sending the instant message.

FIG. 6D shows yet another exemplary user interface 600D that may bepresented to inform an instant message sender that the intendedrecipient of the instant message is not available to receive the instantmessage (e.g., the intended recipient is offline) and requestconfirmation from the instant message sender as to whether the instantmessage should be forwarded to a mobile telephone number associated withthe intended recipient and known to the instant message sender. Incontrast to FIG. 6C, the user interface 600D includes message content ofthe instant message in a message text box 675 that may be, for example,an implementation of message compose text box 606 of FIG. 6A.

Like the interface 600C of FIG. 6C, the interface 600D controls 682,684, 686,′688 and 689, which may be implementations of controls 662,664, 666, 668 and 669 of FIG. 6C, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary user interface 700 may be presented toa user upon initiation of a process to configure the user's instantmessaging account to enable or prohibit sender-initiated mobileforwarding. The user interface 700 includes profile information 720 forthe instant messaging account being configured. The profile information720 includes the name 722 of the identity (i.e., “Bob Smith”) and the IMhandle or screen name 724 of the identity (i.e., “BobSmith123”). Theuser interface 700 also includes the mobile telephone number 730 towhich the configuration is to apply. In some implementations, the mobiletelephone number 730 may be included in the profile information 720.

The user interface 700 also includes a set of option buttons 740 thatmay be selected by the user to configure the user's instant messagingaccount to react to requests by a sender to forward messages to themobile telephone number 730 based on the user's mobile telephone numberin the sender's contact information for the user. The option buttons 740may include, for example, an option button 741 to prohibitsender-initiated mobile forwarding (e.g., messages are not to beforwarded to the mobile telephone number when the user is not signed onto the instant messaging system), an option button 742 to enablesender-initiated mobile forwarding only when the user is offline, and anoption button 743 to enable sender-initiated mobile forwarding when theuser is offline or when the user is signed on and away (e.g., the useris signed on to the instant messaging account and an away message isenabled for the account to provide an indication to potential messagesenders that the user is not available to receive a message).

The user interface 700 allows sender-initiated mobile forwarding ofinstant messages to a user's mobile telephone number to be controlledaccording to recipient preferences. Thus, when a user configures theuser's instant message account to prohibit sender-initiated mobileforwarding, the host system does not send a communication to the user'smobile telephone number even when the sender has the user's mobiletelephone number and the user is not available. In some implementations,the user's mobile telephone number 730 is informational only, such aswhen option 741 is selected to prohibit mobile forwarding.

In some implementations, the interface 700 also may include anindication as to the configuration of the user's account—e.g., whethersender-initiated mobile forwarding is prohibited, is enabled only whenthe user is offline, or is enabled when the user is offline or away.

FIG. 8 shows a process 800 for forwarding an instant message, based oncontact information for an intended recipient, to a mobile telephonedevice capable of receiving, processing, displaying and transmittingtext messages. Like the process 200 of FIG. 2, the process 800 may beperformed, for example, by a processor on the provider system 110 ofFIG. 1 or may be performed by an instant messaging application, such asinstant messaging application 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience,the processor performing the process 800 may be referred to as aninstant messaging system.

The process 800 begins when a user identifies contact information forone or more instant message users, which is received by the instantmessaging system (step 810). The user, who may be referred to as asender, may do so using the interface 500 of FIG. 5 to enter an addresscard in an address book.

The instant messaging system presents a buddy list with a group ofbuddies that identifies available buddies and a group of buddies thatidentifies mobile buddies who are not available but for whom a mobiletelephone number is known by the sender (e.g., the mobile telephonenumber has been entered in the sender's address book) (step 820). Thismay be accomplished, for example, by the instant messaging systemchecking whether an identity associated with each screen name on thebuddy list is signed on to the instant message system and whether amobile telephone number is known to the sender for each identity. Whenthe identity is signed on, the identity is grouped in the availablegroup, whereas when the identity is not signed on but a mobile telephonenumber is known to the sender, the identity is associated with themobile buddies group. In some implementations, the buddy list may alsopresent a group of buddies that are offline and for whom a mobiletelephone number is not known by the sender.

In some implementations, a user may have the option of configuring abuddy list to include a buddy group that includes identities who areable to receive instant messages forwarded to a mobile device. Such agroup may be referred to as a mobile buddy group or mobile buddies. Forexample, a user may be able to set a preference for including anidentity who is able to receive instant messages forwarded to a mobiledevice in a mobile buddy group, or, conversely, maintaining such anidentity's integration within other known buddy groups. In anotherexample, a user may be able to configure a buddy list to include such anidentity both in a mobile buddy group and another buddy group. Theinstant messaging system receives, from the sender, a selection of amobile buddy to whom an instant message is to be sent (step 830). Forexample, the sender may select a buddy from the buddy as describedpreviously with respect to FIG. 3.

The instant message system received, from the sender, message content ofan instant message to be sent to the identified mobile buddy (step 840).For example, the sender may identify text in the message compose textbox 606 of FIG. 6.

The instant message system sends a communication based on the instantmessage to the mobile telephone number known to the sender to beassociated with the identity (step 850). This may be accomplished, forexample, by preparing and forwarding a text message based on the instantmessage to the mobile telephone number for the identity, directly orindirectly, thorough a cellular system, as described previously withrespect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a process 900 by which an instant message addressedto a potential recipient is forwarded to a mobile telephone 170associated with the potential recipient and by which a reply to theinstant message is returned to the instant message sender. The process900 forwards the instant message to the mobile telephone conditionedupon the unavailability of the recipient to receive the instant message(e.g., is not signed on to the instant messaging provider system) andthe availability of the recipient's mobile telephone to receive acommunication. The process 900 involves a sender client system 105A, aninstant messaging provider system 110, a recipient client system 105B, acellular system 180 and a mobile telephone 170 enabled with textmessaging capabilities. In general, the process 900 enables an instantmessage sent by the sender client system 105A and addressed to anintended message recipient to be converted into a text message based onthe original instant message and forwarded to the mobile telephone 170associated with the intended message recipient. The intended messagerecipient receives the text message based on the original instantmessage and replies to the text message using the mobile telephone 170text messaging capability. The cellular system 180 receives the replytext message and sends it to the instant messaging provider system 110which converts the reply text message into a reply instant message basedupon the reply text message and delivers the reply instant message tothe sender client system 105A.

More particularly, an instant message user associated with the senderclient system 105A identifies an intended recipient of an instantmessage by entering the intended message recipient's screen name andenters text for the instant message, which is received by the clientsystem 105A (step 910SCL). Other methods may exist for identifying theintended recipient of an instant message. For example, an instantmessage user may identify an intended recipient by selecting a screenname from the user's buddy list.

The sender client system 105A sends the instant message to the instantmessaging provider system 110 (step 912SCL).

The instant messaging provider system 110 receives the instant message(step 912IMPS) and determines whether the intended recipient isavailable to receive an instant message (step 914IMPS). Differentcriteria for determining whether the intended recipient is available toreceive an instant message may be used. For example, the instantmessaging provider system 110 may determine that the intended recipientis unavailable to receive an instant message if the intended recipientis not signed on to the instant messaging provider system 110.Alternatively, the instant messaging provider system 110 may determinethat the intended recipient is unavailable to receive an instant messageif the intended message recipient is idle or away, or if they haveengaged a hidden state whereupon their presence is unknown to thesender. To determine whether the intended recipient is available toreceive an instant message, the instant messaging provider system 110,for example, may access presence information that identifies screennames of users who are presently signed onto the instant messageprovider system 110.

If the instant messaging provider system 110 determines that theintended message recipient is available to receive an instant message,the instant messaging provider system 110 sends the instant message tothe recipient client system 105B associated with the intended recipient(step 916IMPS), and the recipient client system 105B receives anddisplays the instant message (step 916RCS).

If the intended message recipient is not available to receive an instantmessage, the instant messaging provider system 110 determines whether amobile telephone 170 associated with the intended recipient is availableto receive a communication (step 918IMPS). Different criteria fordetermining whether a mobile telephone 170 associated with the intendedrecipient is available to receive a communication may be used. Forexample, the instant messaging provider system 110 may determine that amobile telephone 170 associated with the intended recipient is notavailable to receive a communication if the mobile telephone 170 ispowered off, the mobile telephone 170 is not within signal range, or themobile telephone 170 is otherwise unavailable to receive acommunication. In another example, the instant messaging provider system110 may determine that a mobile telephone 170 associated with theintended recipient is not available to receive a communication if theintended recipient prohibits message forwarding to the mobile telephone170. In yet another example, the instant messaging provider system 110may determine that a mobile telephone associated with the intendedrecipient is not available to receive a communication if the instantmessage sender does not know the intended recipient's mobile telephonenumber or if the sender is otherwise deemed unknown to the recipient oralternatively is not deemed to be known to the recipient.

Referring also to FIG. 9B, if the instant messaging provider system 110determines that a mobile telephone 170 associated with the intendedrecipient is not available to receive a communication, the instantmessaging provider system 110 may send a message, or some otheralternative indication, to the sender indicating that a mobile telephone170 associated with the intended recipient is not available to receive acommunication (step 932IMPS). The sender may receive the messageindicating that the mobile telephone 170 associated with the intendedrecipient is not available to receive a communication and decide to send(step 932CS) the message anyway.

In some implementations, if the mobile telephone 170 associated with theintended recipient is not available to receive a communication, theinstant messaging provider system 110 may still create a text messagebased on the original instant message (step 920IMPS). The instantmessaging provider system 110 may store the text message for laterdelivery to the mobile telephone 170 when the mobile telephone 170 isavailable or to the user at the user's IM address if the user becomesavailable for receipt at the user's IM address before becoming availablefor text message delivery at the user's mobile telephone 170. Suchoperation is tantamount to a conditional “pounce” feature, where messagedelivery awaits a user and the delivery mechanism to be used for messagedelivery is made conditioned upon factors such as the first of at leasttwo systems to become available, where a first system is instant messageavailability and a second system is mobile telephone availability. Theinstant messaging provider system 110 may send periodic queries to thecellular system 180 to determine when the mobile telephone 170 isavailable to receive the stored test message.

Alternatively or additionally, the instant messaging provider system 170may send the text message to the cellular system 180 (step 922IMPS),which stores the text message for later delivery when the mobiletelephone is available to receive a text message.

If the instant messaging provider system 110 determines that a mobiletelephone 170 associated with the intended recipient is available toreceive a communication, the instant messaging provider system 110creates a text message based on the original instant message (step920TMPS) and sends the text message to the cellular system 180 (step9221MPS).

The cellular system 180 receives the text message from the instantmessaging provider system 110 and sends the text message to the mobiletelephone 170 associated with the intended recipient (step 922CES). Themobile telephone 170 receives and displays the text message to theintended message recipient (step 922MT).

The intended message recipient may reply to the text message. If theintended message recipient replies to the text message, the mobiletelephone 170 receives reply text (step 924MT) and sends the reply textmessage to the cellular system 180 (step 926MT). The cellular system 180receives the reply text message and forwards the reply text message tothe instant messaging provider system 110 (step 926CES). The instantmessaging provider system 110 receives the reply text message (step926IMPS) and creates a reply instant message based on the reply textmessage (step 928IMPS). Referring also to FIG. 9C, the instant messagingprovider system 110 sends the reply instant message to the sender clientsystem 105A (step 930IMPS) and the sender client system 105A receivesand displays the reply instant message (step 930CS).

In some implementations, even if the intended message recipient isavailable to receive an instant message and the instant messagingprovider system 110 sends the instant message to the recipient clientsystem 105B, the instant messaging provider system 110 may alsodetermine whether a mobile telephone 170 associated with the intendedrecipient is available to receive a communication and send a textmessage based on the instant message to the mobile telephone 170.

In some implementations, the mobile telephone 170 may determine whetherthe sender is still available to receive a reply to the text messagedelivered to the mobile telephone 170. This may be particularly usefulin scenarios in which there has been a delay between the time when theoriginal instant message was sent and the time when the text message wasdelivered.

Referring to FIG. 10, a graphical user interface 1000 displays a buddylist for an instant messaging identity (e.g., an instant message sender)where the buddy list identifies buddies for whom a mobile telephonenumber is known to the instant messaging identity (e.g., the instantmessage sender) but for whom message forwarding is not available. Ingeneral, the buddy list includes an Offline group that indicates buddiesfor visually distinguishes buddies who are offline and whose mobiletelephones are unable to receive a communication, who have prohibitedforwarding of instant messages, or otherwise are not able to receiveinstant messages forwarded to a mobile telephone.

More particularly, the graphical user interface 1000 includes a buddylist 1010 of screen names 1020 a-1020 k. As shown, the buddy list 1010has four groups, Buddies 1022, Co-Workers 1024, Family 1026 andOffline—Unable to Forward 1028. SuperBuddyFan1 1020 a belongs to theBuddies group 1022. Boss 1020 b, ChattingChuck 1020 c, and AdminAssistant 1020 d each belong to the Co-Workers group 1024. Mom 1020 e,Dad 1020 f and Brother 1020 g each belong to the Family group 1026.

The Offline—Unable to Forward group 1028, in contrast with the headingoffline 328 of FIG. 3, visually distinguishes buddies who are offlineand whose mobile telephones are unable to receive a communication, whohave prohibited forwarding of instant messages, or otherwise are notable to receive instant messages forwarded to a mobile telephone.

As shown, the Offline group—Unable to Forward 1028 includes Uncle 1020h, Grandma 1010 i and Neighbor 1020 j. A mobile blocking indicator 1010Hindicates that a mobile telephone associated with the identityassociated with the screen name 1020 h is unable to receive acommunication (e.g., the mobile telephone is turned off or out of signalrange). The mobile blocking indicator 1010H may be referred to as adevice-based mobile blocking indicator.

The buddy list 1010 includes mobile blocking indicators 1010I and 1010J,which indicate that the identity associated with the screen name 1020 i,or 1020 j, respectively, prohibits forwarding of instant messages to theidentity's mobile telephone. The mobile blocking indicators 1010I and1010J each may be referred to as a recipient-based mobile blockingindicator.

The device-based mobile blocking indicator 1010H is shown with adifferent presentation style from the presentation style of therecipient-based mobile blocking indicators 1010I and 1010J. The use ofdifferent presentation styles may inform as to the reason instantmessages are not to be forwarded (e.g., a mobile telephone is unable toreceive a text message in contrast to a recipient blocking receipt oftext messages).

In some implementations, the Offline-Unable to Forward group 1028 mayinclude one or more buddies for whom the sender has indicated instantmessages are not to be forwarded.

The buddy list 1010 also includes an offline heading 1029 that includesone or more buddies who are offline (e.g., when a buddy's instantmessage client program is not able to receive communications) and forwhom mobile forwarding is enabled. As shown, Friend 1020 k is offlineand believed to be able to receive messages forwarded to a mobiletelephone.

The use of the Offline-Unable to Forward group 1029 and an offlineheading 1029 may visually distinguish buddies who are offline and towhom instant messages are not forwarded (e.g., a buddy in an Offlinegroup) from buddies who are offline and to whom instant messages are tobe forwarded (e.g., a buddy who appears in association with an offlineheading). That distinction may be useful, for example, when asubstantial number of buddies on a buddy list have mobile forwardingenabled or when a buddy list does not display mobile forwardingindicators, such as the mobile indicator 310 A or mobile indicator 310B,both of FIG. 3.

A determination to display mobile blocking indicator 1010I or 1010J maybe made when a determination is made that the identity associated withthe screen name 1020 i (i.e., Grandma) or 1020 j (i.e., Neighbor) isOffline and/or is idle. For example, when the identity signs off of thehost system providing the instant messaging service, the host system maydetermine whether the identity prohibits forwarding of instant messagesto the identity's mobile telephone. To do so, for example, the hostsystem may check configuration information associated with the screenname 1020 i or 1020 j and make a determination based on theconfiguration information.

When the host system determines that forwarding of instant messages isprohibited by the identity associated with the screen name 1020 i (i.e.,Grandma) or 1020 j (i.e., Neighbor), the host system may make thatdetermination available to the client system or may make available anupdated buddy list that includes the recipient-based mobile blockingindicator 1010I or 1010J. This may be accomplished, for example, bysending the updated buddy list, sending a message that indicates theidentity associated with the screen name prohibits forwarding of instantmessages, or otherwise pushing the buddy list or determination to theclient system that displays the buddy list 1010. In another example, thehost system enables the client system to access the updated buddy listwith the mobile blocking indicator 1010I or 1010J or the determinationthat a recipient-based mobile blocking indicator 1010I or 1010J isappropriate, or the host otherwise enables the client system to pull theupdated buddy list or determination that a recipient-based mobile blockindicator 1010I or 1010J is appropriate from the host system.

A determination to display mobile blocking indicator 1010H may be madewhen a determination is made that the identity associated with thescreen name 1020 h (i.e., Uncle) is offline and/or is idle. For example,when the identity signs off of the host system providing the instantmessaging service, the host system may determine whether a mobiletelephone associated with the identity is available to receive acommunication. To do so, for example, the host system may query thecellular system 180 to determine whether the identity's mobile telephoneis turned off, not within signal range, or otherwise unable to receive atext message.

When the host system determines that a mobile telephone associated withthe identity associated with the screen name 1020 h (i.e., Uncle) isunavailable to receive a communication, the host system may make thatdetermination available to the client system or may make available anupdated buddy list that includes the device-based mobile blockingindicator 1010H. This may be accomplished, for example, by sending theupdated buddy list, sending a message that indicates that a mobiletelephone associated with the identity is unavailable to receive acommunication, or otherwise pushing the buddy list or determination tothe client system that displays the buddy list 1010. In another example,the host system enables the client system to access the updated buddylist with the device-based mobile blocking indicator 1010H or thedetermination that a device-based mobile blocking indicator 1010H isappropriate, or the host otherwise enables the client system to pull theupdated buddy list or determination that a device-based mobile blockingindicator 1010H is appropriate from the host system.

The buddy list window 1000 also includes controls 1030 that a user mayuse to initiate functions related to instant messaging. As illustrated,the controls 1030 include a setup control 1032, an instant messagingcontrol 1034 and an info control 1036.

FIGS. 11A-11C show a process 1100 by which the on-line presenceinformation of a buddy list window 1000 is updated to reflect theavailability of a mobile telephone 170 associated with a potentialmessage recipient to receive a text communication. The process 1100involves a desktop instant messaging server 130, an offline mobile proxy140, a wireless server 145, a cellular system 180 and a mobile telephone170. In general, the process 1100 queries the cellular system 180 formobile telephone availability information and, in response, the cellularsystem 180 determines whether the mobile telephone 170 is available toreceive a communication. The cellular system 180 sends the availabilityinformation to the offline mobile proxy 140, which causes the desktopinstant messaging server 130 to update the on-line presence informationof buddy lists that include a screen name of an identity associated withthe mobile telephone 170.

More particularly, the desktop instant messaging server 130 receives anindication that an instant message user, who is associated with themobile telephone 170, has signed off, or is signing off from the instantmessage system (step 1110IMS).

The desktop instant messaging server 130 communicates the offline statusof a potential message recipient to the offline mobile proxy 140 (step1112IMS). The offline mobile proxy 140 receives the offline status of apotential message recipient (step 1112OMP) and determines whether amobile telephone 170 associated with the potential message recipient isavailable to receive a communication. In one example, the offline mobileproxy may make the determination of whether a mobile telephone 170associated with the potential message recipient is available to receivea communication based on whether the instant message user knows thepotential message recipient's mobile telephone number. In anotherexample, the offline mobile proxy 140 may make the determination ofwhether a mobile telephone 170 associated with the potential messagerecipient is available to receive a communication based on whether thepotential message recipient prohibits message forwarding to thepotential message recipient's mobile telephone 170. In a thirdimplementation, the offline mobile proxy 140 initiates a query todetermine whether a mobile telephone associated with the potentialmessage recipient is available to receive a communication. Inparticular, the offline mobile proxy 140 sends a query for mobiletelephone availability information to the wireless server 145 (step1114OMP).

The wireless server 145 receives the query for mobile telephoneavailability information from the offline mobile proxy 140 (step 1114WS)and forwards the query to the cellular system 180 (step 1116WS). Thecellular system 180 receives the query for mobile telephone availabilityinformation (step 1116CS) and sends a message to the mobile telephone170 associated with the potential message recipient to determine whetherthe mobile telephone 170 is available (step 1118CS).

If the mobile telephone 170 associated with the potential messagerecipient is available to receive a communication (e.g., is powered onand within signal range), the mobile telephone receives the message(step 1118MT). Referring also to FIG. 11B, in response to the messagefrom the cellular system 180, the mobile telephone 170 sends to thecellular system 180 a message indicating that the mobile telephone isavailable to receive a communication (step 1120MT): The cellular system180 receives the response from the mobile telephone 170 (step 1120CS).If the mobile telephone 170 associated with the potential messagerecipient is not available to receive a communication (e.g., is notpowered on or is not within signal range), the mobile telephone 170 doesnot receive the message from the cellular system 180, and, consequently,the cellular system 180 does not receive a response from the mobiletelephone 170.

The cellular system 180 determines whether the mobile telephone 170 isavailable to receive a communication (step 1122CS). Based on a responsefrom the mobile telephone 170, the cellular system 180 determines thatthe mobile telephone is available to receive a communication.Alternatively, if the cellular system 180 does not receive a responsefrom the mobile telephone 170 after a predetermined amount of time haspassed since the message was sent to the mobile telephone, the cellularsystem 180 determines that the mobile telephone is unavailable toreceive a communication. Alternatively or additionally, the mobiletelephone 170 may send periodic availability indications to the cellularsystem 180 indicating that the mobile telephone 170 is available toreceive a communication when the mobile telephone 170 is powered on,within signal range, and otherwise available to receive a communication.The cellular system 180 is able to determine whether the mobiletelephone 170 is available to receive a communication based upon themost recently received availability indication from the mobile telephone170.

The cellular system 180 sends to the wireless server 145 availabilityinformation about the mobile telephone 170 (step 1124CS). The wirelessserver 145 receives the availability information from the cellularsystem (step 1124WS) and forwards the availability information to theoffline mobile proxy 140 (step 1126 WS). The offline mobile proxy 140receives the availability information (step 1126OMP) and, in response,updates the on-line presence information of the potential messagerecipient associated with the mobile telephone 170 (step 1128OMP). Forexample, if the mobile telephone 170 associated with the potentialmessage recipient is available to receive a communication, the offlinemobile proxy 140 updates the on-line presence information of thepotential message recipient to indicate that the potential messagerecipient is available. If the mobile telephone 170 associated with thepotential message recipient is not available to receive a communication,the offline mobile proxy 140 updates the on-line presence information ofthe potential message recipient to indicate that the potential messagerecipient is unavailable (step 1128OMP). Referring also to FIG. 11C, theoffline mobile proxy 140 sends the updated on-line presence informationto the desktop instant messaging server 130 (step 1130OMP).

The desktop instant messaging server 130 receives the updated on-linepresence information (step 1130IMS) and updates the on-line presenceinformation of the buddy list window 1000 accordingly. If the updatedon-line presence information indicates that the potential messagerecipient is available, the desktop instant messaging server 130 mayupdate the on-line presence information of the buddy list window 1000 toindicate that the potential message recipient is available. Severaldifferent mechanisms for updating the on-line presence information ofthe buddy list to reflect that the intended message recipient isavailable may exist. For example, the identity associated with thepotential message recipient may be displayed under the name orrepresentation of the buddy group to which the potential messagerecipient belongs. Additionally, or alternatively, a mobile indicatormay be displayed adjacent to the identity associated with the potentialmessage recipient.

If the updated on-line presence information indicates that the potentialmessage recipient is unavailable, the desktop instant messaging server130 may update the on-line presence information of the buddy list toindicate that the potential message recipient is unavailable. Severaldifferent mechanisms for updating the on-line presence information ofthe buddy list to reflect that the intended message recipient isunavailable may exist. For example, the identity associated with thepotential message recipient may be displayed under the Offline group1028 in the buddy list window 1000. Alternatively, a mobile blockingindicator, such as a device-based mobile blocking indicator, may bedisplayed adjacent to the identity associated with the potential messagerecipient in the buddy list window.

As illustrated in FIGS. 11A-C, the process 1100 for updating the on-linepresence information of a buddy list window 1000 to reflect theavailability of a mobile telephone 170 associated with a potentialmessage recipient to receive a text message may be triggered by the userassociated with the mobile telephone 170 signing off of the instantmessage system. After the user associated with the mobile telephone 170has signed off, the process 1100 may be repeated periodically todetermine the availability of the mobile telephone 170.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show a process 1200 by which a mobile telephone usercan use a mobile telephone 170 to configure an instant messaging serviceso as to prohibit the forwarding of instant messages to the mobiletelephone 170 from the instant messaging service. The process 1200involves a mobile telephone 170, a cellular system 180, a wirelessserver 145, an offline mobile proxy 140 and a desktop instant messagingserver 130. In general, the process 1200 enables the user of a mobiletelephone to send a transmission from the mobile telephone 170 to thecellular system 180, in which the transmission indirectly instructs theinstant messaging service to prohibit the forwarding of instant messagesto the mobile telephone 170. The cellular system 180 receives thetransmission from the mobile telephone 170 and forwards the instructionto the wireless server 145, which relays the instruction to the offlinemobile proxy 140. The offline mobile proxy configures the mobiletelephone user's instant messaging service user account so as toprohibit the forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170from the instant messaging service. The offline mobile proxy also causesthe mobile telephone user's online presence information to be updatedbased upon the mobile telephone user's instruction to prohibit theforwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170 from theinstant messaging service.

More particularly, referring to FIG. 12A, the mobile telephone usercauses the mobile telephone 170 to send a transmission to the cellularsystem 180 instructing the instant messaging service to prohibit theforwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170 from theinstant messaging service (step 1210MT). The instruction may be toprohibit the forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170from the instant messaging service irregardless of the sender of theinstant message, or, alternatively, the instruction may be to prohibitthe forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170 from theinstant messaging service when the messages are sent by one or moreparticular users of the instant messaging service.

The cellular system 180 receives the transmission instructing theinstant messaging service to prohibit the forwarding of instant messagesto the mobile telephone 170 (step 1210CS) and relays the instruction tothe wireless server 145 (step 1212CS). The wireless server 145 receivesthe transmission instructing the instant messaging service to prohibitthe forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170 (step1212WS) and relays the instruction to the offline mobile proxy 140 (step1214WS). The offline mobile proxy 140 receives the transmissioninstructing the instant messaging service to prohibit the forwarding ofinstant messages to the mobile telephone 170 (step 1214OMP) and, inresponse, configures the user's account (i.e., the mobile telephoneuser's instant messaging service account) to prohibit the forwarding ofinstant messages to the mobile telephone 170 (step 1216OMP). Based onthe instruction, the offline mobile proxy 140 may configure the user'saccount so as to prohibit the forwarding of all instant messages fromthe instant messaging service to the mobile telephone 170, or theoffline mobile proxy 140 may configure the user's account so as toprohibit the forwarding of instant messages sent by particular users ofthe instant messaging service.

Referring also to FIG. 12B, after configuring the user's account toprohibit the forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170,the offline mobile proxy 140 updates the user's on-line presenceinformation (step 1218OMP) and sends the updated on-line presenceinformation to the desktop instant messaging server 130 (step 1220OMP).The desktop instant messaging server 130 receives the updated on-linepresence information (step 1220IMS) and updates the on-line presenceinformation of the mobile telephone user in the buddy list window 1000(step 1222OMP).

Several different mechanisms for updating the on-line presenceinformation of the buddy list window 1000 to reflect that the mobiletelephone user has instructed the instant messaging service to prohibitthe forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephone 170 exist.For example, a mobile blocking indicator may be displayed adjacent tothe identity associated with the mobile telephone user in the buddy listwindow 1000. Alternatively, the identity associated with the mobiletelephone user may be displayed under the Offline group 1028 in thebuddy list window 1000.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow 1300 of exemplary transmissions that may besent, for example, according to the process 1200 of FIGS. 12A-12B, toinstruct the instant messaging service to prohibit the forwarding ofinstant messages to a mobile telephone.

The flow 1300 includes a message 1310 that represents an original textmessage sent by a sender from a mobile telephone having the telephonenumber 703-345-6789 to the 10 telephone number 703-123-4567.

The telephone number 703-123-4567 may be assigned to the instantmessaging service and the instant messaging service may have enabledcall forwarding to the temporary destination telephone number703-234-5678, as shown in message 1320. The message 1320 is forwardedfrom the cellular system to the instant messaging system.

The instant messaging system receives the message 1320. Based on themobile telephone number from which the original message was sent, theinstant messaging system is able to identify the instant message accountinformation 1330 and screen name BobSmith123 associated with the mobiletelephone number from which the original message 1310 was sent. Theinstant messaging system creates a message session entry 1340identifying the mobile telephone number of the sender of the originalmessage 1310, the mobile telephone number to which the original message1310 was sent, the temporary destination telephone number, and thescreen name BobSmith123 associated with the mobile telephone number fromwhich the original message 1310 was sent. The message session entry 1340and the instant message account information 1330 are not part of themessage flow-1300 but are used to create and process messages in theflow 1300.

The flow also includes a message 1350 that represents an instructiongenerated by the instant message system based on the message 1320 andthe identified screen name BobSmith123 associated with the mobiletelephone number from which the original message 1310 was sent. Theinstruction 1340 is directed to the offline mobile proxy 140 andidentifies the screen name BobSmith123 associated with the mobiletelephone number from which the original message 1310 was sent as thesender. The message 1350 instructs the offline mobile proxy 140 toprohibit the forwarding of instant messages to the mobile telephonenumber associated with the screen name BobSmith123. The offline mobileproxy 140 receives the message 1350 and configures the instant messageaccount associated with the screen name BobSmith123 to prohibit theforwarding of instant messages to the mobile phone associated withBobSmith123's instant message account.

Referring to FIG. 14, an example of a process 1400 for updating theon-line presence information for a list (e.g., participant list) ofco-users (e.g., instant message identities) is illustrated. The processis initiated upon receipt of a user (e.g., instant message identity)sign on (e.g., submission of identification and/or authenticationparameters to enable on-line presence) (step 1402). A list of co-usersfor whom the user has selected to monitor on-line presence informationis accessed (step 1404) and the on-line presence information for theco-users is determined (step 1406). Co-users that are determined to beon-line may be populated to the co-user list, likely within categoriesshown by the list, as able to receive messages. For co-users determinedto be off-line, co-users for which the user maintains contactinformation (e.g., mobile telephone number within the user's addressbook) are identified (step 1408). For each off-line co-user for whichthe user maintains contact information, it is determined whether apreference has been established against receiving text messages (e.g.,SMS messages) based on electronic messages (e.g., instant messages)(step 1410). The co-users for which the preference against receivingtext messages is established are visibly differentiated from theco-users for which the preference against receiving text messages hasnot been established (step 1412). For example, co-users for which thepreference against has been established may be populated to an offlineuser category (e.g., such as shown at 328 of FIG. 3) or to a co-usercategory that visibly reflects the preference against (e.g., such asthat shown at 310 c of FIG. 3, or 1010H, 1010I, or 1010) of FIG. 10).Additionally or alternatively, an icon may be placed adjacent to a useridentifier of co-users for which the preference against has beenestablished to visibly reflect the preference against. In addition, ifneither a preference for nor against receiving text messages based onelectronic messages is established for a co-user, the user identifier ofthe co-user may be populated to a buddy list group as able to receivemessages.

FIG. 15A illustrates a process 1500 for forwarding an instant message toa mobile telephone number and sending a second message to the mobiletelephone number indicating that the instant message was forwarded tothe mobile telephone number because the mobile telephone number is knownby the sender to be associated with the intended recipient. The process1500 may be performed, for example, by a processor on the providersystem 110 of FIG. 1 or the process may be performed by an instantmessaging application, such as instant messaging application 107A or107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, the processor performing the process1500 may be referred to as an instant messaging system.

The process 1500 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (1505). The user, who may be referred to as a sender,may do so using an instant messaging application to identify a buddyfrom within the user's buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be identified by the user by entering a screen name (ratherthan selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (1510). In one example, the instantmessaging system identifies a collection of contact information (i.e.,an address book, a contact list, or a buddy list) that is associatedwith the sender of the instant message and searches the identifiedcollection for an entry that includes a screen name that matches thescreen name to which the instant message is addressed. If such a matchis found, the instant messaging system determines whether a mobiletelephone number is included in the contact information entry, and, whenso, the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is known to the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name to which the instant message isaddressed.

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is not known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is not included in the sender's address book or contactinformation for the identity is included in the sender's address bookand the contact information does not include a mobile telephone number)(1515), the instant messaging system does not send a message based onthe instant message to the mobile telephone number (e.g., does notforward a text message to a mobile telephone number) (1520).

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is included in the sender's address book, where the contactinformation includes a mobile telephone number and identifies a screenname) (1515), the instant messaging system sends a first message basedon the instant message to the mobile telephone number known to thesender to be associated with the identity (1525). This may beaccomplished, for example, by preparing and forwarding a text messagebased on the instant message to the mobile telephone number for theidentity, directly or indirectly, thorough a cellular system, asdescribed previously, for example, with respect to FIG. 1.

The instant messaging system also sends a second message to the mobiletelephone number indicating that the first message was sent to themobile telephone number based on the determination that the mobiletelephone number is known to the sender to be associated with theidentity (1530). A second message may be sent to the mobile telephonenumber every time a message based on an instant message is sent to themobile telephone number. Alternatively, a second message may be sent tothe mobile telephone number only the first time a message based on aninstant message from a particular sender is sent to the mobile telephonenumber. In addition, other triggers and/or conditions for sending asecond message to a mobile telephone number in addition to a firstmessage based on an instant message may be used.

In some implementations, the second message may be separate from thefirst message. In such cases, the second message may accompany the firstmessage (e.g., the second message may be sent substantiallysimultaneously to the first message) or the second message may be sentbefore or after sending the first message. In such implementations, thesecond message may be displayed separately from the first message by themobile telephone. For example, a second message may appear in therecipient's text message inbox or a pop-up window presenting the secondmessage may be displayed on the mobile telephone's display. Additionallyor alternatively, the mobile telephone may incorporate, or otherwisecombine, the second message within the first message such that themobile telephone displays what appears to be a single communicationincluding both the first message and the second message to therecipient.

Alternatively, the second message may be prefixed to, appended to, orotherwise incorporated within the first message such that the firstmessage and the second message form a single communication. For example,additional lines of text indicating that the first message was sent tothe mobile telephone number because the mobile telephone number is knownto the sender to be associated with the identity may be added to thefirst message.

In addition, in some implementations, the second message may provide therecipient with options for prohibiting subsequent messages based oninstant messages from being sent to the mobile telephone number. Forexample, the second message may enable the recipient to block instantmessages from being forwarded to the mobile telephone number as textmessages by responding to the second message by entering a certainkeystroke or series of keystrokes on the touchpad of the mobiletelephone in response to the second message.

Additionally or alternatively, the second message may includeinstructions that enable the recipient to block subsequent messagesbased on instant messages from being sent to the mobile telephonenumber. For instance, the second message may include instructions forprohibiting the forwarding of instant messages from the mobiletelephone, for example, in accordance with the techniques discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 13. Additionally oralternatively, the second message may include instructions forprohibiting the forwarding of instant messages from the recipient'sinstant message account, for example, in accordance with the techniquesdiscussed above in connection with FIG. 7.

The second message may provide the recipient with options forprohibiting subsequent messages based on instant messages from thesender from being sent to the mobile telephone number. Additionally oralternatively, the second message may provide the recipient with optionsfor prohibiting subsequent messages based on instant messages from allusers of the instant messaging system or a particular subset of theusers of the instant messaging system from being sent to the mobiletelephone number.

FIG. 15B illustrates a process 1550 for forwarding an instant message toa mobile telephone number and informing the intended recipient that theinstant message was forwarded to the mobile telephone number because themobile telephone number is known by the sender to be associated with theintended recipient. The process 1550 may be performed, for example, by aprocessor on the provider system 110 of FIG. 1 or the process may beperformed by an instant messaging application, such as instant messagingapplication 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, the processorperforming the process 1550 may be referred to as an instant messagingsystem.

The process 1550 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (1555). The user, who may be referred to as a sender,may do so using an instant messaging application to identify a buddyfrom within the user's buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be identified by the user by entering a screen name (ratherthan selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (1560). In one example, the instantmessaging system identifies a collection of contact information (i.e.,an address book, a contact list, or a buddy list) that is associatedwith the sender of the instant message and searches the identifiedcollection for an entry that includes a screen name that matches thescreen name to which the instant message is addressed. If such a matchis found, the instant messaging system determines whether a mobiletelephone number is included in the contact information entry, and, whenso, the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is known to the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name to which the instant message isaddressed.

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is not known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is not included in the sender's address book or contactinformation for the identity is included in the sender's address bookand the contact information does not include a mobile telephone number)(1565), the instant messaging system does not send a message based onthe instant message to the mobile telephone number (e.g., does notforward a text message to a mobile telephone number) (1570).

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is known by the sender to be associated with the identityassociated with the screen name (e.g., contact information for theidentity is included in the sender's address book, where the contactinformation includes a mobile telephone number and identifies a screenname) (1565), the instant messaging system sends a message, to themobile telephone number, that is based on the instant message and thatindicates that the message was sent to the mobile telephone number basedon the determination that the mobile telephone number is known to thesender to be associated with the identity (1575). This may beaccomplished, for example, by preparing a text message that is based onthe instant message and that indicates that the message was sent to themobile telephone number based on the determination that the mobiletelephone number is known to the sender to be associated with theidentity. For instance, additional text may be added to, or otherwiseincorporated within, the text of the original instant message indicatingthat the message was sent to the mobile telephone number based on thedetermination that the mobile telephone number is known to the sender tobe associated with the identity. After the text message that is based onthe instant message and that indicates that the message was sent to themobile telephone number based on the determination that the mobiletelephone number is known to the sender to be associated with theidentity is prepared, it may be forwarded to the mobile telephone numberknown to be associated with the identity, directly or indirectly,thorough a cellular system, as described previously, for example, withrespect to FIG. 1.

FIG. 16A illustrates a process 1600 for forwarding an instant message toa mobile telephone and sending a second message to the mobile telephoneindicating that the instant message was forwarded to the mobiletelephone because the mobile telephone is associated with the intendedrecipient and the mobile telephone is available to receivecommunications. The process 1600 may be performed, for example, by aprocessor on the provider system 110 of FIG. 1 or the process may beperformed by an instant messaging application, such as instant messagingapplication 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, the processorperforming the process 1600 may be referred to as an instant messagingsystem.

The process 1600 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (1605). The user, who may be referred to as a sender,may do so using an instant messaging application to identify a buddyfrom within the user's buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be identified by the user by entering a screen name (ratherthan selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephoneassociated with the screen name is available to receive a communication(1610). In one example, the instant messaging system determines whetherthe intended recipient has associated a mobile telephone number with thescreen name. If the intended recipient has associated a mobile telephonenumber with the screen name, the instant messaging system determineswhether the mobile telephone associated with the mobile telephone numberis available to receive a communication. The instant messaging systemmay determine whether the mobile telephone is available to receive acommunication by determining whether the intended recipient has enabledrecipient-inspired mobile forwarding. Additionally or alternatively, theinstant messaging system may determine whether the mobile telephone isavailable to receive a communication by determining whether the mobiletelephone is powered on, within signal range, or otherwise able toreceive a communication.

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephoneassociated with the identity is not available to receive a communication(1615), the instant messaging system does not send a message based onthe instant message to the mobile telephone number (e.g., does notforward a text message to a mobile telephone number) (1620).

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephoneassociated with the identity is available to receive a communication(1615), the instant messaging system sends a first message based on theinstant message to the mobile telephone (1625). This may beaccomplished, for example, by preparing and forwarding a text messagebased on the instant message to the mobile telephone for the identity,directly or indirectly, through a cellular system, as describedpreviously, for example, with respect to FIG. 1.

The instant messaging system also sends a second message to the mobiletelephone number indicating that the first message was sent to themobile telephone because the mobile telephone is associated with thescreen name and the mobile telephone is available to receive acommunication (1530). A second message may be sent to the mobiletelephone every time a message based on an instant message is sent tothe mobile telephone. Alternatively, a second message may be sent to themobile telephone only the first time a message based on an instantmessage from a particular sender is sent to the mobile telephone. Inaddition, other triggers and/or conditions for sending a second messageto a mobile telephone in addition to a first message based on an instantmessage may be used.

In some implementations, the second message may be separate from thefirst message. In such cases, the second message may accompany the firstmessage (e.g., the second message may be sent substantiallysimultaneously to the first message) or the second message may be sentbefore or after sending the first message. In such implementations, thesecond message may be displayed separately from the first message by themobile telephone. For example, a second message may appear in therecipient's text message inbox or a pop-up window presenting the secondmessage may be displayed on the mobile telephone's display. Additionallyor alternatively, the mobile telephone may incorporate, or otherwisecombine, the second message within the first message such that themobile telephone displays what appears to be a single communicationincluding both the first message and the second message to therecipient.

Alternatively, the second message may be prefixed to, appended to, orotherwise incorporated within the first message such that the firstmessage and the second message form a single communication. For example,additional lines of text indicating that the first message was sent tothe mobile telephone because the mobile telephone is known to the senderto be associated with the screen name may be added to the first message.

In addition, in some implementations, the second message may provide therecipient with options for prohibiting subsequent messages based oninstant messages from being sent to the mobile telephone. For example,the second message may enable the recipient to block instant messagesfrom being forwarded to the mobile telephone number as text messages byresponding to the second message by entering a certain keystroke orseries of keystrokes on the touchpad of the mobile telephone in responseto the second message.

Additionally or alternatively, the second message may includeinstructions that enable the recipient to block subsequent messagesbased on instant messages from being sent to the mobile telephonenumber. For instance, the second message may include instructions forprohibiting the forwarding of instant messages from the mobiletelephone, for example, in accordance with the techniques discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 13. Additionally oralternatively, the second message may include instructions forprohibiting the forwarding of instant messages from the recipient'sinstant message account, for example, in accordance with the techniquesdiscussed above in connection with FIG. 7.

The second message may provide the recipient with options forprohibiting subsequent messages based on instant messages from thesender from being sent to the mobile telephone. Additionally oralternatively, the second message may provide the recipient with optionsfor prohibiting subsequent messages based on instant messages from allusers of the instant message system or a particular subset of theinstant message system from being sent to the mobile telephone.

FIG. 16B illustrates a process 1650 for forwarding an instant message toa mobile telephone and informing the intended recipient that the instantmessage was forwarded to the mobile telephone because the mobiletelephone is associated with the screen name of the intended recipientand the mobile telephone is available to receive communications. Theprocess 1650 may be performed, for example, by a processor on theprovider system 110 of FIG. 1 or the process may be performed by aninstant messaging application, such as instant messaging application107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, the processor performing theprocess 1650 may be referred to as an instant messaging system.

The process 1650 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (1655). The user, who may be referred to as a sender,may do so using an instant messaging application to identify a buddyfrom within the user's buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be identified by the user by entering a screen name (ratherthan selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephoneassociated with the screen name is available to receive a communication(1660). In one example, the instant messaging system determines whetherthe intended recipient has associated a mobile telephone number with thescreen name. If the intended recipient has associated a mobile telephonenumber with the screen name, the instant messaging system determineswhether the mobile telephone associated with the mobile telephone numberis available to receive a communication. The instant messaging systemmay determine whether the mobile telephone is available to receive acommunication by determining whether the intended recipient has enabledrecipient-inspired mobile forwarding. Additionally or alternatively, theinstant messaging system may determine whether the mobile telephone isavailable to receive a communication by determining whether the mobiletelephone is powered on, within signal range, or otherwise able toreceive a communication.

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephoneassociated with the identity is not available to receive a communication(1665), the instant messaging system does not send a message based onthe instant message to the mobile telephone (e.g., does not forward atext message to a mobile telephone) (1670).

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephoneassociated with the identity is available to receive a communication(1665), the instant messaging system sends a message, to the mobiletelephone, that is based on the instant message and that indicates thatthe message was sent to the mobile telephone based on the determinationthat the mobile telephone is associated with the screen name and thedetermination that the mobile telephone is available (1675).

This may be accomplished, for example, by preparing a text message thatis based on the instant message and that indicates that the message wassent to the mobile telephone based on the determination that the mobiletelephone is associated with the screen name and the determination thatthe mobile telephone is available. For instance, additional text may beadded to, or otherwise incorporated within, the text of the originalinstant message indicating that the message was sent to the mobiletelephone based on the determination that the mobile telephone isassociated with the screen name and the determination that the mobiletelephone is available. After the text message that is based on theinstant message and that indicates that the message was sent to themobile telephone based on the determination that the mobile telephone isassociated with the screen name and the determination that the mobiletelephone is available is prepared, it may be forwarded to the mobiletelephone, directly or indirectly, thorough a cellular system, asdescribed previously, for example, with respect to FIG. 1.

Although the processes described in FIGS. 15A, 15B, 16A and 16Bgenerally are described in the context of forwarding instant messages tomobile telephones, other implementations are contemplated. Moreparticularly, in any context in which a first message is sent to anintended recipient using a first mode of communication and thenforwarded to another destination or communication device using a secondform of communication, it may be useful to send a second message to thealternative destination or communication device explaining to therecipient why the first message was forwarded to the destination orcommunication device and enabling the recipient to prohibit futuremessages sent using a first mode of communication from being forwardedto the destination or communications device. For example, an instantmessaging system may enable instant messages sent to a recipient'sinstant message identity to be forwarded to an electronic mail(“e-mail”) address associated with the recipient, an alternative instantmessage identity associated with the recipient, and/or a voicemailaccount associated with the recipient. In all of these contexts, it maybe useful for the instant messaging system to send a second message tothe recipient indicating why the instant message was forwarded andenabling the recipient to block future instant messages from beingforwarded.

An instant message sent by a sender may be forwarded to an intendedinstant messaging recipient's mobile telephone even when the sender doesnot store, in the sender's address book or otherwise, a mobile telephonenumber for the recipient. Moreover, the sender and recipient may nothave a direct relationship to another, but may nevertheless be linked toone another through intermediate identities based on a personal,business or other relationship among the identities and the intermediaryidentities. For example, a user A may have a friend, user B, who alsouses the instant messaging service. Similarly, user B also may have afriend, user C, who also uses the instant messaging service. Thus,because user A is friends with user B and user B is friends with user Cand because user A, user B, and user C all use the instant messagingservice, user A is linked to user C through user B, and, consequently,may be deemed to know user C. Such interpersonal interactions orrelationships may generally be referred to as a social network. How manyintermediary identities are needed to link one identity with anotheridentity may be referred to as the degree of separation between thosetwo identities and may serve as a measure of the strength of therelationship between the two identities.

Contact lists (e.g., address books or buddy lists of instant messagingservices) may be used to determine the links and degree of separationbetween a sender and a recipient. For example, an identity A may listidentity B in identity A's address book, identity B may list identity Cin identity B's address book, and identity C may list identity D inidentity C's address book. Here, identity D is linked to identity A bytwo degrees of separation (with identity B as the first degree andidentity C as the second degree). Identity A is related to identity C byone degree of separation (identity B), and identity B is separated fromidentity D by one degree of separation (identity C). Identities A and B,identities B and C, and identities C and D are each respectivelyseparated by zero degrees of separation.

Thus, a system may identify a first identity's social network (e.g., theentire social network or a portion of the social network up to adesignated number of degrees of separation) by evaluating the firstidentity's contact list(s), evaluating the contact list(s) of thoseidentities listed in the first identity's contact list, and so forthuntil the desired number of degrees have been reached or the entiresocial network has been identified. For example, an identity A may listidentities B and C in identity A's address book. The system may evaluateand determine that identities B and C are so listed and construct asocial network map (which may be visually displayed and/or stored forlater use) that indicates that identities B and C are linked to identityA. The system may then evaluate identity B's address book and identityC's address book to determine additional identities with whom identity.B or identity C are linked. For example, the system may evaluateidentity B's address book and determine that identities D and E arelisted in identity B's address book and, consequently, that identity Bis linked to identities D and E. The system then may refine the socialnetwork to indicate that identity A is linked directly to identities Band C and that identity A also is linked to identities D and E throughidentity B.

FIG. 17 illustrates a process 1700 for forwarding an instant message,based on an intended recipient being known to the sender, to a mobiletelephone device capable of receiving, processing, displaying andtransmitting text messages. In contrast to the process 200 of FIG. 2,the process 1700 forwards an instant message based on a mobile telephonenumber associated with the intended recipient that is not necessarilyincluded in the sender's own contact information for the intendedrecipient. The process 1700 may be performed, for example, by aprocessor on the provider system 110 of FIG. 1 or the process 1700 maybe performed by an instant messaging application, such as instantmessaging application 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, theprocessor performing the process 1700 may be referred to as an instantmessaging system.

The process 1700 begins when a user creates an instant message that isaddressed to a screen name, and the instant message is received by theinstant messaging system (1710). The user, who may be referred to as asender, may do so using an instant messaging application to identify ascreen name of an intended recipient and to enter text or other contentfor the instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressedto a screen name of an identity identified by the sender.

The instant messaging system determines whether an identity associatedwith the screen name is available to receive an instant message (1720).This may be accomplished, for example, by the instant messaging systemchecking whether the identity associated with the screen name is signedon to the instant message system. When the identity associated with thescreen name is available to receive an instant message (1722), theinstant messaging system sends the instant message to the identityassociated with the screen name (1725). For example, the instant messagesystem may forward the instant message to the client system, such as105A or 105B of FIG. 1, used by the identity.

When the identity associated with the screen name is not available toreceive an instant message (1722), the instant messaging systemdetermines whether the recipient is known by the sender (1730). In oneexample, the instant messaging system identifies a collection of contactinformation (e.g., an address book, a contact list, or a buddy list)that is associated with the sender of the instant message and searchesthe identified collection for an entry that includes a screen name thatmatches the screen name to which the instant message is addressed. If amatch is not found, the instant messaging system searches collections ofcontact information of identities that are included in the sender'ssocial network map for an entry that includes a screen name that matchesthe screen name to which the instant message is addressed. If a match isfound, the instant messaging system determines that the recipient isknown to the sender.

If the recipient is not known to the sender (1732), the instant messagesystem does not send the instant message to the intended recipient anddoes not send a communication based on the instant message (e.g., doesnot forward a text message to a mobile telephone number) (1735).

If the recipient is known to the sender (1732), the instant messagesystem identifies a mobile telephone number associated with the identityassociated with the screen name to which the instant message isaddressed (1737). To do so, for example, the instant message systemsearches for, and identifies, collections of contact informationassociated with identities who are included in the sender's socialnetwork map. In another example, the instant message system may searchfor the mobile telephone number of the identity associated with thescreen name to which the instant message is addressed in user contact oraccount information that is not necessarily associated with a particularidentity (e.g., is not an address book or buddy list of a user of theinstant message system).

The instant message system sends a communication based on the instantmessage to the mobile telephone number associated with the recipient(1740). This may be accomplished, for example, by preparing andforwarding a text message based on the instant message to the mobiletelephone number for the identity, directly or indirectly, through acellular system, as described previously with respect to FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 18, a process 1800 is used to maintain a list of knownpeople and to use the list of people known to a user to forward instantmessages only to know people. A list of people known to a user is stored(1802). Communication identifiers are stored in the list to indicate theknown people.

The user can make manual additions to the list of known people (1810).To that end, the user is made able to expressly designate communicationidentifiers as known (1812). For example, a graphical user interface(GUI) that allows the user to enter communication identifiers may beprovided. There also may be a speech-based interface that allows theuser to add communications identifiers to the list of known people bysaying them. These interfaces may allow the user to augment the list ofknown people indirectly by allowing them to make additions to a contactlist such as, for example, a custom sender list, an address book, or abuddy list.

However, the user may want to manually add a person to a contact listbut not to the list of known people. An interface optionally may bepresented to enable the user to confirm that the manually enteredcommunication identifiers should be added to the list of known people(1814). The confirmation may be enabled by way of a GUI that allows theuser to select the entered communication identifiers that the useractually wants to be included in the list of known people. Thisconfirmation may occur after a predetermined number of communicationidentifiers have been entered, or at login or logoff to seekconfirmation of any people entered during the previous online session.Those identifiers that the user confirms then are added to the list(1816). When a confirmation interface is not presented, all enteredcommunication identifiers are added to the list of known people.Alternatively, there may be an interface that allows the user todirectly enter identifiers into the list of known people.

On the other hand, communication identifiers may be inferred as beingknown based on the actions of the user (1820). First, the communicationidentifiers known to the user are inferred (1822). For example, acommunication identifier may be inferred as known if an e-mail messageto that communication identifier is sent. When an instant messagingprogram is used, the communication identifier of the person with whomthe user is communicating may be designated as known to the user.

One user's knowledge of another or their corresponding identifiers maybe inferred based on user interactions with a received message. Forexample, a communication identifier also may be inferred as known if amessage from that communication identifier is read, replied to,forwarded, saved, or printed. Likewise, the communication identifierthat sent the e-mail message may be designated as known if the messageis moved from the “inbox” to a folder that is not marked for deletion orfor spam, or if the message is left open for a predetermined amount oftime.

Known communication identifiers also may be inferred based on indiciaother than user actions. As an example, the people designated as knownto the people the user knows may be designated as being “known” to theuser. For instance, if a person B is designated as someone user A knows,then the people designated as known to person B also may be designatedas “known” to user A. One way this may be implemented is, for example,to designate the people in an address book and/or buddy list of person Bas known to user A.

When inferring known people, some actions may be taken into account tonegate an inference that the person is known (1824). For instance, if ane-mail received from a person is forwarded to an e-mail address that hasbeen designated for reporting spam, then the inference that the userknows the person may be negated. As another example, an inference that aperson is known may be negated if the person is included on an explicitblack list of people with which communication should not occur, createdby the user or the network administrator.

After known communication identifiers are inferred, an interfaceoptionally may be presented to enable the user to confirm that theinferred communication identifiers are in fact known (1826). Theconfirmation may be enabled by way of a GUI that allows the user toselect inferred communication identifiers that the user actually knowsor wants to be included in the list of known people. This confirmationmay occur after a predetermined number of communication identifiers havebeen inferred as known, or at login or logoff to seek confirmation ofany people identified in the previous online session. Those identifiersthat the user confirms then are added to the list (1828). When aconfirmation interface is not presented, the inferred identifiers areadded to the list.

Branches 1810 and 1820 may occur simultaneously or sequentially. Afterat least one of the branches has occurred, the user optionally may viewthe list of known people, and he or she may delete those users that areno longer known or needed (1830). In addition, communication identifiersin the list of known people can be used optionally to find othercommunication identifiers for that person (1832). For example, aperson's e-mail address may be obtained from a profile associated with ascreen name. Similarly, if the e-mail address is known, it may be usedto obtain the screen name. The screen name, e-mail, or other determinedcommunication identifiers may be used to determine other ways in whichthe known person may communicate with the user or in which the user maycommunicate with the known person.

At this point, the list can be used to forward an instant message sentby the user to another user based on whether the communicationidentifier of the other user is known (1834). For example, the list canbe used to determine whether the intended recipient of an instantmessage is known to a sender. If so, a mobile telephone numberassociated with the intended recipient may be identified, for example,by using contact information associated with other known users or byusing a collection of contact information maintained by the instantmessaging system (e.g., a user profile or user account information). Theinstant message may be forwarded to the intended recipient:

Referring to FIG. 19, a process 1900 may be used to infer people withina certain number of degrees of separation from the user as known to theuser. The degree of separation between two entities describes arelationship between those entities. Typically, the characteristics ofuser contact lists (e.g., address book, buddy list, and/or white listthat identifies users from whom communications are to be received) areevaluated to determine the number of degrees (or hops) that are requiredto link or relate two users.

A list of contacts is maintained for the user (1902). The list ofcontacts may be any personally maintained list or lists, for example, anaddress book, a buddy list for instant messaging, and/or a white list.For convenience, the rest of process 1900 will be described using anaddress book as an example of a list of contacts. The contacts in theuser's address book are added to the user's list of known people (1904).

Next, the contacts linked to the user (i.e., up to a desired degree ofseparation) are identified and added to the user's list of known people.To do so, the address books of each contact in the user's address bookare accessed (1906). These address books are not normally configured fordirect access by the user. The other users' address books typicallyinclude communication identifiers selected by the other users.

The contacts in the user's contacts' address books (i.e., the contactsseparated by one degree) then are added to the list of known people(1908). If another degree of separation is desired (1910), the degree ofseparation is incremented (1912) such that the address books of thecontacts that are separated from the user by one degree are accessed(1906) and the contacts in those address books are added to the list ofknown people list (1908). When a contact is added to the list of knownpeople list, the contact's degree of separation from the user also maybe added. The addition of contacts continues until the desired degree ofseparation is reached (1910). Once the desired degree of separation hasbeen reached, all of the contacts within that desired degree ofseparation from the user have been inferred as known to the user (1914).

The desired degrees of separation may be a system parameter or, in someimplementations, the user may be provided with the ability to set thedesired degrees of separation. For example, the user may be providedwith an interface that allows the user to decide whether degrees ofseparation will be used, and, if so, how many degrees should be used.Alternatively, the desired degrees of separation may be both a systemparameter and adjustable by the user. For example, the system mayinclude a default degree of separation that can be adjusted by the userif he or she so desires.

Process 1900 may result in the list of known people not being updatedwhen any users related to the intended user update their contact lists.That is, if a user related to the intended user adds a contact to theuser's contact list, the new contact may not be reflected in theintended user's list of known people. This situation may not be overlydetrimental, particularly in implementations where the list of knownpeople is used as a white list to exempt certain e-mails from spamfiltering. However, repeating process 1900 on a periodic or anon-periodic basis may mitigate this situation. Another manner ofmitigating this situation is to use an update system in which changes tocontact lists are tracked and lists of known people are updatedaccordingly in an incremental fashion or by triggering an update orre-initiation of process 1900 when an update occurs.

FIG. 20 illustrates a process 2000 for conditionally forwarding aninstant message to a mobile telephone number associated with an instantmessaging screen name. The process 2000 may be performed, for example,by a processor on the provider system 110 of FIG. 1 or the process 2000may be performed by an instant messaging application, such as instantmessaging application 107A or 107B of FIG. 1. For convenience, theprocessor performing the process 2000 may be referred to as an instantmessaging system.

The process 2000 begins when a user creates an instant message addressedto a screen name, and the instant message is received by the instantmessaging system (2005). The user, who may be referred to as a sender,may do so using an instant messaging application to identify a buddyfrom within the user's buddy list and enter text or other content forthe instant message. Accordingly, the instant message is addressed to ascreen name of an identity listed on the sender's buddy list.Alternatively, the screen name of the intended recipient of the instantmessage may be identified by the user by entering a screen name (ratherthan selecting a buddy from the sender's buddy list).

The instant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephonenumber is associated with the intended recipient (2010). In one example,the instant messaging system identifies a collection of contactinformation (e.g., an address book, a contact list, or a buddy list)that is associated with the sender of the instant message and searchesthe identified collection for an entry that includes the intendedrecipient's screen name. If such a match is found, the instant messagingsystem determines whether a mobile telephone number is included in thecontact information entry, and, when so, the instant messaging systemdetermines that a mobile telephone number is associated with theintended recipient's screen name. In another example, the instantmessaging system searches the sender's collection of contact informationas well as collections of contact information of identities that areincluded in the sender's social network map for an entry that includesthe intended recipient's screen name. If such a match is found, theinstant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephone number isincluded in the contact information entry, and, when so, the instantmessaging system determines that a mobile telephone number is associatedwith the intended recipient's screen name. In still another example, theinstant messaging system determines whether a mobile telephone numberhas ever been associated with the intended recipient's screen name. Forexample, the intended recipient may have associated his/her screen namewith a mobile telephone number while configuring his/her instantmessaging account.

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is not associated with the intended recipient's screen name(2015), the instant messaging system does not send a communication basedon the instant message to the mobile telephone number (e.g., does notforward a text message to a mobile telephone number) (2020).

When the instant messaging system determines that a mobile telephonenumber is associated with the intended recipient's screen name (2015),the instant messaging system determines whether one or more conditionsfor sending a communication based on the instant message to the mobiletelephone are satisfied (2025). For example, sending a communicationbased on the instant message to the mobile telephone number may beconditioned on the geographic location of the intended recipient (e.g.,the geographic location of the intended recipient's mobile telephone),the time of the instant message, and/or the strength of the relationshipbetween the sender and the intended recipient.

If the sending of a communication based on the instant message to themobile telephone number is conditioned on the location of the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone, one or more locations may be identified aslocations to which instant messages are allowed to be sent to the mobiletelephone number and/or one or more locations may be identified aslocations to which instant messages are not allowed to be sent to themobile telephone number. The location of the intended recipient's mobiletelephone may be determined by requesting an indication of the locationof the mobile telephone from a cellular system associated with theintended recipient's mobile telephone. Additionally or alternatively,the location of the intended recipient's mobile telephone may bedetermined based on a location manually entered by the intendedrecipient. For example, the intended recipient's mobile telephone mayenable the intended recipient to manually enter a location of theintended recipient's mobile telephone into the telephone and themanually entered location may be stored by the mobile telephone and/orthe instant messaging system.

In some implementations, the intended recipient may specify one or morelocations to which communications are allowed to be sent (e.g., alocation associated with the intended recipient's home) and/or theintended recipient may specify one or more locations to whichcommunications are not allowed to be sent (e.g., a location associatedwith the intended recipient's office). Thereafter, the instant messagingsystem may send communications to the mobile telephone number only whenthe mobile telephone is determined to be at a location to whichcommunications are allowed to be sent and/or the instant messagingsystem may send communications to the mobile telephone number when themobile telephone is determined not to be at a location to whichcommunications are not allowed to be sent.

Additionally or alternatively, the instant messaging system maydetermine one or more locations to which communications are allowed tobe sent to the mobile telephone number and/or the instant messagingsystem may determine one or more locations to which communications arenot allowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number. Such systemdetermined locations may be determined by identifying one or morelocations at which it is likely that the intended recipient will receivea communication sent to the mobile telephone number and/or byidentifying one or more locations at which it is unlikely that theintended recipient will receive a communication sent to the mobiletelephone number. For example, the instant messaging system may monitorthe intended recipient's pattern of receiving and not receiving (i.e.,missing) communications sent to the intended recipient's mobiletelephone number in order to determine one or more locations at which itis likely that the intended recipient will receive communications sentto the intended recipient's mobile telephone number (e.g., locations atwhich, the intended recipient historically receives a high percentage ofcommunications sent to the mobile telephone number) and/or one or morelocations at which it is unlikely that the intended recipient willreceive communications sent to the intended recipient's mobile telephonenumber (e.g., one or more locations at which the intended recipienthistorically misses a high percentage of communications sent to themobile telephone number). Thereafter, the instant messaging system maysend communications to the intended recipient's mobile telephone numberonly when it is determined that the mobile telephone is at a locationthat has been determined to be a location at which the intendedrecipient is likely to receive communications sent to the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone number and/or when it is determined thatthe mobile telephone is at a location that has been determined to be alocation at which the intended recipient is unlikely to receivecommunications sent to the intended recipient's mobile telephone number.In some implementations, system-determined locations are updatedregularly to reflect intended recipient's current patterns.

In some implementations, an actual location (e.g., longitudinal andlatitudinal coordinates) of the intended recipient's mobile telephonemay be used to determine whether communications should be sent to theintended recipient's mobile telephone number. In other implementations,a relative location of the intended recipient's mobile telephone may beused to determine whether communications should be sent to the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone number. For example, the intended recipientmay specify that communications should not be sent to the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone number when the intended recipient's mobiletelephone is determined to be located at the intended recipient's officeand/or when the intended recipient's mobile telephone is determined tobe located at the intended recipient's vacation home.

If the sending of a communication based on the instant message to themobile telephone number is conditioned on the time of the message, oneor more time periods may be determined during which communications basedon instant messages are allowed to be sent to the mobile telephonenumber and/or one or more time periods may be determined during whichcommunications based on instant messages are not allowed to be sent tothe mobile telephone number. In some implementations, the intendedrecipient may specify one or more time periods during whichcommunications based on instant messages are allowed to be sent to themobile telephone number and/or the intended recipient may specify one ormore time periods during which communications based on instant messagesare not allowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number. Thereafter,the instant messaging system may send communications to the mobiletelephone number only during time periods that the intended recipienthas specified as time periods during which communications based oninstant messages are allowed to be sent to the mobile telephone numberand/or the instant messaging system may send communications to themobile telephone number only during time periods that the intendedrecipient has not specified as time periods during which communicationsare not allowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number.

Additionally or alternatively, the instant messaging system maydetermine one or more time periods during which communications based oninstant messages are allowed to be sent to the intended recipient'smobile telephone number and/or one or more time periods during whichcommunications based on instant messages are not allowed to be sent tothe intended recipient's mobile telephone number. System determined timeperiods may be default time periods or system determined time periodsmay be determined based on times during which it is likely that theintended recipient is able to receive communications sent to theintended recipient's mobile telephone number. For example, the instantmessaging system may monitor the intended recipient's pattern ofreceiving and not receiving (i.e., missing) communications sent to theintended recipient's mobile telephone number in order to determine oneor more time periods during which it is likely that the intendedrecipient will receive communications sent to the intended recipient'smobile telephone number (e.g., time periods during which the intendedrecipient historically receives a high percentage of communications sentthe mobile telephone number) and/or one or more time periods duringwhich it is unlikely that the intended recipient will receivecommunications sent to the intended recipient's mobile telephone number(e.g., time periods during which the intended recipient historicallymisses a high percentage of communications sent to the mobile telephonenumber). Thereafter, the instant messaging system may sendcommunications to the intended recipient's mobile telephone number onlyduring time periods for which it has been determined that the intendedrecipient is likely to receive communications sent to the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone number and/or the instant messaging systemmay not send communications to the intended recipient's mobile telephonenumber during periods of time for which it has been determined that theintended recipient is unlikely to receive communications sent to theintended recipient's mobile telephone number. In some implementations,system-determined time periods are updated regularly based on the user'scurrent patterns.

Time periods during which communications based on instant messages areallowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number may be the same everyday, or they may be different from day to day. For example, the timeperiods during which communications based on instant messages areallowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number may be the same onweekdays but different on weekend days.

In some implementations, the time periods during which communicationsare allowed to be sent to the mobile telephone number may be consideredfrom the sender's perspective. That is to say, the determination ofwhether the instant message is received within a time period duringwhich communications are allowed to be sent to the mobile telephonenumber may be determined based on whether the local time of the senderat which the sender sent the instant message falls within a time periodduring which communications are allowed to be sent to the mobiletelephone number. In other implementations, the time periods duringwhich communications are allowed to be sent to the mobile telephonenumber may be considered from the intended recipient's perspective. Thatis to say, the determination of whether the instant message is receivedwithin a time period during which communications are allowed to be sentto the mobile telephone number may be determined based on whether thelocal time of a default location associated with the intended recipient(e.g., the intended recipient's home or office) or a local time of theactual location of the intended recipient's mobile telephone fallswithin a time period during which communications are allowed to be sentto the mobile telephone number. In implementations where thedetermination of whether the instant message is received within a timeperiod during which communications are allowed to be sent to the mobiletelephone number is based on the actual location of the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone, the actual location of the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone may be determined, for example, byrequesting an indication of the location of the intended recipient'smobile telephone from a cellular system associated with the intendedrecipient's mobile telephone.

If the sending of a communication based on the instant message to themobile telephone number is conditioned on the strength of therelationship between the sender and the intended recipient, a thresholdrelationship strength required for allowing communications based oninstant messages sent by a sender to be sent to the intended recipient'smobile telephone may be specified, and communications based on instantmessages may be sent to the intended recipient's mobile telephone onlyif the relationship strength between the sender and the intendedrecipient satisfies the required threshold relationship strength.

In some implementations, the strength of the relationship between asender and the intended recipient may be determined based on whether thesender and the intended recipient are linked to each other in a socialnetwork. In some such implementations, the relationship between a senderand the intended recipient may be deemed to satisfy the requiredthreshold relationship strength merely if the sender and the intendedrecipient are linked to each other by a social network. In other suchimplementations, the required threshold relationship strength may bespecified as a maximum number of links between a sender and the intendedrecipient, and the relationship strength between a sender and theintended recipient may be deemed to satisfy the required thresholdrelationship strength only if the sender and the intended recipient arelinked to each other by a number of links that is equal to or less thanthe maximum number of links. The maximum number of links may bespecified by the intended recipient, or the maximum number of links maybe specified by the instant messaging system.

If the instant messaging system determines that one or more conditionsfor sending a communication based on the instant message are notsatisfied (2030), the instant messaging system does not send acommunication based on the instant message to the mobile telephonenumber (2035). In some implementations, when the instant messagingsystem determines that one or more conditions for sending acommunication based on the instant message are not satisfied, theinstant messaging system sends an alert to the sender indicating thatthe one or more conditions for sending a communication based on theinstant message are not satisfied and informing the sender that acommunication based on the instant message will not be sent to theintended recipient's mobile telephone. In such implementations, thesender may be able to override the instant messaging system's decisionnot to send a communication to the mobile telephone number based on thedetermination that the one or more conditions for sending thecommunication are not satisfied. For example, the alert sent to the userindicating that the one or more conditions have not been satisfied mayenable the user to send an instruction to the instant messaging systemthat instructs the instant messaging system to send a communicationbased on the instant message to the mobile telephone number despite thefact that the one or more conditions are not satisfied.

If the instant messaging system determines that the one or moreconditions for sending a communication based on the instant message aresatisfied (2030), the instant messaging system sends a communicationbased on the instant message to the mobile telephone number associatedwith the intended recipient (2025). This may be accomplished, forexample, by preparing and forwarding a text message based on the instantmessage to the mobile telephone number for the intended recipient,directly or indirectly, through a cellular system, as describedpreviously, for example, with respect to FIG. 1.

The techniques described related to mobile forwarding based on contactinformation may provide a convenient method to automatically providemobile forwarding without requiring the text message recipient to set upor otherwise configure the recipient's instant message account to enablesuch mobile forwarding. This may be useful, particularly when a user maybe reluctant to so enable the user's account, perhaps, on the assumptionthat such a configuration process is or may be complex or confusing(regardless of whether such a configuration process is complex orconfusing).

Although the techniques and concepts often are described above in termsof SMS text messaging, the techniques and concepts may be applied toother types of messages, such as a Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS)message, a video message and an audio message. Similarly, the techniquesand concepts have been described in terms of receiving an instantmessage at a desktop computer. Other electronic devices configured toreceive instant messages may be used, such as a laptop computer, apersonal data assistant (PDA) and a telephone receiver.

Instant messaging programs typically allow instant message senders tocommunicate in real-time with each other in a variety of ways. Forexample, many instant messaging programs allow instant message sendersto send text as an instant message, to transfer files, and tocommunicate by voice. Examples of instant messaging communicationapplications include AIM (America Online Instant Messenger), AOL(America Online) Buddy List and Instant Messages which is an aspect ofmany client communication applications provided by AOL, Yahoo Messenger,MSN Messenger, and ICQ, among others. Although discussed above primarilywith respect to instant message applications, other implementations arecontemplated for providing similar functionality in platforms and onlineapplications.

The techniques and concepts generally have been described in the contextof an instant messaging system that uses an instant messaging hostsystem to facilitate the instant messaging communication between instantmessage senders and instant message recipients. Other instant messageimplementations are contemplated, such as an instant message service inwhich instant messages are exchanged directly between two instantmessage client systems (e.g., an instant message sender system and aninstant message recipient system).

In addition, although the examples above are given in an instant messagecontext, other communications systems with similar attributes may beused. For example, some or all of the techniques may be applicable tomessages exchanged in a chat room or in electronic mail (e-mail)communications. Also, some or all of the described user interfaces maybe a viewable interface, an audible interface, a tactile interface, or acombination of these.

In addition, the techniques and concepts describing sender-initiatedforwarding of an instant message to a mobile telephone based onrecipient contact information known by the sender may be applied toother contexts. For example, an e-mail message may be sent to an e-mailaddress known by the sender that corresponds to the recipient identifiedin the instant message. In other examples, sender-initiated forwardingof messages may be enabled to a voice telephone message or a secondinstant message address provided by another instant message service. Insome implementations, a hierarchy of communication schemes may beidentified. For example, an instant message may be first forwarded as atext message to a mobile telephone number known to the sender and, whenthe recipient is not available to receive the message at the mobiletelephone, the message may be also forwarded as an e-mail message to ane-mail address of the intended recipient that is known to the sender. Ahierarchy of communication schemes may be automatically applied toselect among available contact criteria for a recipient of an instantmessage. In some implementations, a user may set a preference for theorder in which available contact criteria are applied. For example, auser may prefer that a text message be forwarded to a mobile telephonenumber (if known) before an e-mail message is sent to an e-mail address(if known). A user may set a default preference that is applied to allcontacts, unless overridden by a preference identified for a particularcontact. For example, in general, a user may indicate that an instantmessage is forwarded to a mobile telephone number before being sent asan e-mail message; however, for a particular contact, an instant messageis forwarded as an e-mail message before a text message is forwarded tothe mobile telephone number of the particular contact.

The techniques and concepts describing a buddy list that separatesvarious identities into groups based on availability and/orcommunication scheme also may be applied to identify a group of buddiesthat are available via sending an e-mail message (and are otherwiseoffline and/or away).

The described systems, methods, and techniques may be implemented indigital electronic circuitry, computer hardware, firmware, software, orin combinations of these elements. Apparatus embodying these techniquesmay include appropriate input and output devices, a computer processor,and a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readablestorage device for execution by a programmable processor. A processembodying these techniques may be performed by a programmable processorexecuting a program of instructions to perform desired functions byoperating on input data and generating appropriate output. Thetechniques may be implemented in one or more computer programs that areexecutable on a programmable system including at least one programmableprocessor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmitdata and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one inputdevice, and at least one output device. Each computer program may beimplemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programminglanguage, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in anycase, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitableprocessors include, by way of example, both general and special purposemicroprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions anddata from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Storagedevices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructionsand data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, such as Erasable ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCompact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM). Any of the foregoing may besupplemented by, or incorporated in, specially-designed ASICs(application-specific integrated circuits).

It will be understood that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the claims. For example,advantageous results still could be achieved if steps of the disclosedtechniques were performed in a different order and/or if components inthe disclosed systems were combined in a different manner and/orreplaced or supplemented by other components. As another example, ascreen name is used throughout to represent a unique identifier of anaccount, but any other unique identifier of an account may be used whenlinking accounts. Accordingly, other implementations are within thescope of the following claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. A computer-implemented method comprising: adding one ormore user designations corresponding to associated other users to acontact list, wherein the contact list specifies contact information forthe other users; adding at least one user designation of the one or moreuser designations to a communication list of users, wherein thecommunication list specifies users to contact via an alternativecommunication channel if a first communication channel is unavailable;receiving an incoming message from a sender and an indication of asender-specified first destination for the incoming message, wherein thesender-specified first destination is associated with a target user thatcorresponds to one of the at least one user designation on thecommunication list; obtaining first information indicating that thesender-specified first destination is not available for the incomingmessage over the first communication channel; in response to obtainingthe first information indicating that the sender-specified firstdestination is not available and the target user being on thecommunication list, obtaining second information indicating that asecond destination over the alternative communication channel isassociated with the sender-specified first destination; and in responseto obtaining the second information indicating that the seconddestination is associated with the sender-specified first destinationand the second destination being available to receive electronicmessages, forwarding the incoming message to the second destination overthe alternative communication channel.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2 wherein adding the one or more user designations tothe contact list is performed in response to receiving first user inputthat indicates the one or more user designations corresponding to atleast one associated other user.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 2 wherein adding the at least one user designation to thecommunication list is performed in response to receiving second userinput that indicates the at least one user designation.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising causing aninterface to be displayed on a device of the sender, wherein theinterface enables provision of the second user input that specifies theat least one user designation to be added to the communication list. 6.The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising causing aninterface to be displayed on a device of the sender, wherein theinterface includes a prompt that requests a confirmation that the atleast one user designation is to be added to the communication list,wherein the second user input includes the confirmation.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the prompt is displayedon the device of the sender in response to the adding the one or moreuser designations to the contact list based on first user input receivedby the device.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein theprompt is displayed on the device of the sender in response to at leastone of: a particular number of the user designations being input to thecontact list by the first user input, or a login to or logoff from amessaging service by the sender, wherein the at least one userdesignation is input to the contact list during a previous onlinesession prior to a current online session.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 4 further comprising causing an interface to bedisplayed on a device of the sender, wherein the interface depicts theone or more user designations, and wherein the second user inputindicates selection of the at least one user designation from the one ormore user designations.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 2wherein the first communication channel uses instant messages over anInternet Protocol (IP) network, and wherein the alternativecommunication channel uses Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages over acellular network.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 whereinthe first communication channel transmits instant messages communicatedvia an instant messaging server, and wherein the alternativecommunication channel transmits email messages over an Internet Protocol(IP) network.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein thesecond destination is a telephone number of a mobile device, wherein thesecond destination is determined to be available based on the mobiledevice being reachable via a cellular network.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the second destination isa telephone number of a mobile device, wherein the second destination isdetermined to be available based on the mobile device being within asignal range to receive a communication.
 14. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2 further comprising obtaining third information thatindicates whether a particular user designation of the one or more userdesignations is automatically added to the communication list withoutrequiring user input, based on at least one of: one or more previouscommunications between the sender and a particular user of theparticular user designation, or one or more previous actions providedvia third user input, wherein the one or more previous actions wereapplied to one or more previous messages sent to or received from theparticular user in the one or more previous communications.
 15. A systemcomprising: at least one processor; and a computer-readable storagedevice storing instructions, which when executed on the at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to perform operationscomprising: adding one or more user designations corresponding toassociated other users to a contact list, wherein the contact listspecifies contact information for the other users; adding at least oneuser designation of the one or more user designations to a communicationlist of users, wherein the communication list specifies users to contactvia an alternative communication channel if a first communicationchannel is unavailable; receiving an incoming message from a sender andan indication of a sender-specified first destination for the incomingmessage, wherein the sender-specified first destination is associatedwith a target user that corresponds to one of the at least one userdesignation on the communication list; obtaining first informationindicating that the sender-specified first destination is not availablefor the incoming message over the first communication channel; inresponse to obtaining the first information indicating that thesender-specified first destination is not available and the target userbeing on the communication list, obtaining second information thatindicates that a second destination over the alternative communicationchannel is associated with the sender-specified first destination; andin response to the second information indicating that the seconddestination is associated with the sender-specified first destinationand the second destination being available to receive electronicmessages, forwarding the incoming message to the second destination overa communication network using the alternative communication channel. 16.The system of claim 15 wherein the operation of adding the one or moreuser designations to the contact list is performed in response toreceiving first user input that indicates the one or more userdesignations corresponding to at least one associated other user. 17.The system of claim 15 wherein the operation of adding the at least oneuser designation to the communication list is performed in response toreceiving second user input that indicates the at least one userdesignation.
 18. The system of claim 15 wherein the operation of addingthe at least one user designation to the contact list is based on one ormore previous communications between the sender and at least one otheruser associated with the at least one user designation.
 19. The systemof claim 15 wherein the operation of adding the at least one userdesignation to the contact list is based on one or more previous actionsprovided via third user input, wherein the one or more previous actionswere applied to one or more previous messages sent to or received fromat least one other user associated with the at least one userdesignation in one or more previous communications.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer executableprogram causing a processor to perform operations comprising: adding oneor more user designations corresponding to associated other users to acontact list, wherein the contact list specifies contact information forthe other users; adding at least one user designation of the one or moreuser designations to a communication list of users, wherein thecommunication list specifies users to contact via an alternativecommunication channel if a first communication channel is unavailable;receiving an incoming message from a sender and an indication of asender-specified first destination for the incoming message, wherein thesender-specified first destination is associated with a target user thatcorresponds to one of the at least one user designation on thecommunication list; obtaining first information that indicates that thesender-specified first destination is not available for the incomingmessage over the first communication channel; in response to obtainingthe first information indicating that the sender-specified firstdestination is not available and the target user being on thecommunication list, obtaining second information that indicates that asecond destination over the alternative communication channel isassociated with the sender-specified first destination; and in responseto the second information indicating that the second destination isassociated with the sender-specified first destination and the seconddestination being available to receive electronic messages, forwardingthe incoming message to the second destination over a communicationnetwork using the alternative communication channel.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein theoperation of adding the at least one user designation to thecommunication list is performed at least one of: in response toreceiving first user input that indicates the at least one userdesignation, or based on one or more of: one or more previouscommunications between the sender and at least one user associated withthe at least one user designation; or one or more previous actionsprovided via second user input, wherein the one or more previous actionswere applied to one or more previous messages sent to or received fromone or more other users associated with the at least one userdesignation in the one or more previous communications.